Another life journey
by prettyingreenkyz
Summary: Mikan gets involved in missions with Natsume. Now that she's the target of the AAO. who's going to save her? will that someone be on time to save her? or will he be too late? read and find out. *hopefully out of hiatus* NxM,RxH
1. Chapter 1

Another Life Journey

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

-------

It was like any another day. The birds chirping happily as the sun's rays begin to show. The soft wind breeze rustling the tree's leaves and the slow blooming of flowers. Except that the loudest girl in the elementary is already awake and sitting on a big tree's shade under the glowing sun, instead of resting on her room. Mikan was just staring at her blonde teacher's face, thinking.

"Listen Mikan, the academy really needs you" Mr. Narumi said

Silence

Mr. Narumi just sighed and started to walk away saying "I'll give you some time alone, just tell me your decision as soon as possible"

Soon, Mikan was left alone thinking while staring at her hands. It's not like she was given a choice. It's between tons of life with one life. She needed—no; she must do this for her friends' safety. Mikan was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear footsteps approaching her.

--

There was still an hour left before classes start and Natsume wanted to spend it reading or just lay under a big shady tree. Heading his way to the forest, he saw Mr. Narumi emerging from it with a very strenuous face. The blonde looked up and saw Natsume, he smiled at him. The two of them just passed each other with a expression of their own. Mr. Narumi, was smiling while Natsume, has a deep frown etched on his face.

'So early in the morning and I get to see his ugly face' Natsume thought as he walked around searching for a big tree. He, of course, saw one but someone was already resting beside it, a girl with hazel hair.

She was just staring at her hands and didn't seem to notice his presence. Unlike before there was no trace of a smile on her face; instead, there was a trace of pure concentration.

"Is there something wrong?" Natsume asked, stopping himself just in time in insulting the troubled girl.

Mikan didn't seem to hear him, so Natsume went to stand beside her resting his back on the tree's trunk. "Hey little girl is there something wrong?"

She slowly turned her face to look at Natsume with a fake smile on her face, she greeted him. "Good Morning, Natsume- san!"

If Natsume didn't saw the concentration on her face earlier, he would have believed that Mikan was really happy, but he saw it. He saw that it was just one big fake smile. "No need to fake the smile. It's just me around…"

When Natsume said that, Mikan's smile began to falter, but she just replaced it with a smile, closer to a real smile, instead. "I like to smile"

"Whatever" he said "you know little girl, whatever was troubling you earlier, do what you think is right"

Mikan didn't know what to say to what Natsume just said so she just thanked him "Arigato, Natsume- san!"

"You better go to class, polka dots"

"You pervert! My name is Mikan!" she bellowed "try using—"

Suddenly the bell rang and Mikan panicked. "Oh no, I'm going to be late again!" she cried running away. She looked back and saw that Natsume was just sitting and reading his book. "Come on Natsume! Are you planning on skipping again?"

Silence

"I'm going now!" Mikan cried back, her voice sounding far

"Do whatever you like" Natsume growled, even though he knew she won't hear him.

--

Natsume sighed silently and frowned. He just met with Persona on the way to his classes and he was just told about another mission.

'Darn school' he thought

He glared at everyone inside the room and they all seem to be affected by it, except one. Mikan Sakura wasn't. He continue to give glares at everyone who seemed to grow smaller every time its directed to them, while he thinks about the encounter earlier with Persona.

"_You'll be having a partner in this mission" Persona said _

"_What! That'll just slow me down!" Natsume cried_

"_She'll be helping you with her alice" Persona said as if Natsume didn't protested_

"_She?" the student asked "who is she?"_

"_I don't know but Narumi said she's supposed to be good" with that said Persona took his leave leaving Natsume alone_

Natsume looked around the room and felt that someone keeps on glancing at him. He waited for that someone to glance his way again. Finally that someone did. It was Mikan and she keeps on glancing at Natsume with a troubled look. Natsume would always catch Mikan glancing at him so he would just give her a glare or two.

Finally lunch came and students were allowed to go out and eat. Natsume went out to stay at the northern woods to think alone, while Ruka spends his lunch with Mikan and the others.

"What's wrong with Natsume?" Hotaru asked Ruka monotonously

"I don't know… he's not his usual self" Ruka answered

"Tell me about it, he glared at everyone during classes" Yuu said

Mikan of course was smiling but inside she was worried sick for someone, to be more specific to Natsume. Something was bothering him and he was grouchier than usual. What could it be that bothered him that much? She thought, maybe another mission was to be done later, or maybe he already know—that'll really explain the glares he gives me—

"Mikan- chan, are you alright?" Ruka asked noticing that Mikan stopped walking with them and was now 5 feet away from them.

"Yeah, I just realize I'm not that hungry" Mikan smiled scratching the back of her neck. Good thing her tummy didn't let out a growl on the spot. "I'll see you later, I've got something to do, Bye, Yuu- san, Hotaru- chan and Ruka- pyon!"

As Mikan walked out on them, Hotaru's mind was working, very amused. Mikan doesn't miss meals, She's always hungry. Now, when your best friend skipped meals, you'll be worried, right? But Hotaru isn't because she knew Mikan will be looking for someone.

"Do you think something is wrong with her?" asks Yuu worried as they sit across each other with meals on their plate.

"Maybe… but we shouldn't really bother her" Hotaru answered tonelessly

"How do you know that?"

"She's just up to something really nice" Hotaru replied unconsciously before putting food in her mouth

Ruka just stared at the raven haired beside him fascinated at her intelligence of hers. He continued to stare at Hotaru taking in every detail on her face. Her cute little nose and her amethyst eyes. How come I never noticed it before? Ruka thought to himself, Hotaru is beautiful.

--

Natsume was sitting peacefully below an old tree were the lake was in view and the place was surrounded by nature. In the middle of his thoughts, someone came into view at his left, it was Mikan.

"There you are, I was looking for you" the brunette said

"What is it you want, little girl?" Natsume asked glaring

"Nothing, I was just worried about you" she answered sitting five feet away from Natsume. "I didn't see you at the cafeteria, you see"

'Her? Worried about me?' Natsume thought 'that's rich… although I kind of like the feeling that she cares about me even through all the teasing' "what do you want?"

"I told you, nothing" she said just gazing at the lake before them.

Then a thought struck Natsume's head. "What did Narumi told you earlier?"

Mikan, surprised that Natsume still didn't know, stared at Natsume. His red ruby eyes reflecting her shocked face; his pointed nose and his lips. How she didn't notice how handsome Natsume is, she didn't know, until now.

She must have been staring too long and taking too long in answering the question that Natsume said to her "What are you gawking at?"

"No—nothing" Mikan stammered looking away with a tint of pink on her cheeks "Narumi- sensei talked to me about the task at hand later tonight"

'So she's the girl' Natsume thought 'wait! Her! Why am I cool about that! She can be so moronic sometimes… she might even get hurt! That is not what I want!—did I just thought what I think I just thought? That's weird, I never cared about her… well things are about to change, I guess'

When Natsume didn't say anything but just looked away, Mikan began to worry. Natsume don't just look away when he could have a chance to scold Mikan. Something must be wrong, thought Mikan.

"Is that alright with you, Natsume?" Mikan asked staring again at the side of his gorgeous face

"I don't have a choice, Do I, Idiot?" Natsume said staring back at the brunette with equal curiosity in his eyes. Minutes passed in silence while they were staring at each other, each lost in their own thoughts, and Natsume broke it. "But you have a choice…"

At first Mikan was lost then remembered what they were talking about. 'Damn those red eyes' she cursed "I don't… I agree for the same reason you agree…"

Suddenly the bell rang signaling that Lunch time was over and they should be heading to their classes. This didn't break the moment the two were sharing, though. They were still staring at each other.

Only a few seconds passed and Mikan came back to reality. She smiled at Natsume and hugged him, saying "I'll see you later, Natsume! We'll take care of each other" He didn't do anything at all, he just continued to sit there staring at the space where Mikan's face was before, But now her face was buried at his shoulders. If you were to see that scene, you would probably think that the girl was near in killing the boy.

When Mikan realized what she was doing, she blushed crimson red and ran away waving back, leaving Natsume all alone again. Natsume was just sitting there gazing into nothingness. He never felt that way before. Well, maybe he felt it before but can't remember when it was. He felt the warmth a fire can't produce; a safety that fire can't ensure and a calm moment that fire can never erase. Natsume really liked the feeling and wanted to experience it again.

Suddenly a picture of Mikan entered his mind, and he blushed a little bit. He shakes his head trying to remove the picture but it doesn't seem to fade away, it was plastered in his mind. Her long brown hair, her eyes full of life and the most beautiful smile he has ever seen, her smile, a true smile.

'I guess being with her tonight won't be that bad…' he thought and went to take a nap with the image of Mikan in his head.

--

As time pass by, Mikan was constantly flashing Natsume a smile saying, 'we'll be alright'. Natsume didn't mind at all, he was kind of getting used to it already. He was also getting good to not show his feelings outside. Some part during the day the two of them bumped with each other, and if he didn't have the reputation of the coldest guy in the room, he would have blushed uncontrollably.

Finally dinner came and everyone was enjoying their meals. Mikan was trying her best to forget about what will happen later on that evening and instead enjoy the remaining time left before the mission.

"What are you looking at, Mikan?" asked Yuu

"Uhh—nothing, just thought I saw something weird" Mikan said looking away from Natsume's face with the slightest tint of pink on her cheeks that didn't go unnoticed by her best friend, Hotaru.

'Interesting' Hotaru thought as she swallowed her food. She looked at Natsume who was eating quietly and beside him was Ruka, his spoonful of food paused halfway to his mouth. His eyes were focused on only one thing, or to be more literal, on one person.

Hotaru returned to her food ignoring the look Ruka was giving her. Every once in a while, she would catch Ruka staring at her.

"Ruka?" Natsume asked turning to face his friend. He looked at who his friend was looking at and saw it was a certain raven haired girl. Natsume smirked and ruffled Ruka's hair. "Let me know if you even get to talk to her within two minutes without the topic of blackmailing, will you?"

Ruka just blushed and tried to return his food but with a poor result. He ended up staring again at Hotaru. Oh Hotaru, if only you knew how beautiful you are, Ruka thought. Natsume just smirked at his friend and continued with his food but not before glancing at a certain brunette named Mikan Sakura.

--

IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT!

With those three blasts of Hotaru's idiot gun, Ruka was sent flying at the other end of the hallway to the dorms. Some curious students poked thir head through their door to know what was going on, only to get hit by Hotaru's gun square on their face. It was already quarter to 10 making the hallways empty and dark.

Hotaru walked to Ruka who was limping on the floor staring at her.

IDIOT!

This brought Ruka back to reality.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ruka demanded

"Funny I was just going to ask you the same thing" Hotaru said looking down on Ruka "What do you think were you doing earlier inside the dinning hall."

"I wasn't doing anything" the blonde said still not getting up. Then, he noticed a familiar clicking sound, his face immediately turn to red. "Where are you hiding the camera, Imai-san!"

"And why would I tell you that?" She smirked and got out a remote from her pocket and presses a red button. After a few seconds, her ride came and she rode on it.

"Imai-san!" Ruka shouted through the halls running after the girl he's been admiring from afar.

--End of chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Another life journey Chapter 2:

summary: 

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

Did you like the 1st chapter? I hope so. Well this chapter is the start of the mission and of course the start of awkwardness between hotaru and ruka! Haha. Hope u like it.

---------------

Meanwhile Mikan was currently having a nap under the big Sakura tree where she and Natsume were supposed to meet. She knew if she stayed inside her room waiting till the supposed time she wasn't going to wake up on the right time. So she just decided to just sleep under the tree.

It was a full moon and everything was perfect. The lake was occasionally being rippled over and over again by the gentle blowing cold wind. The rustling leaves made by the flying birds as well as the wind. The one thing that made the sight perfect for Natsume was the figure lying on the ground sleeping soundlessly.

He walked over to the girl sleeping and sat beside her still body. There was still a good half an hour before he would wake her up to be on time. While he sat there, he thought about his life. How will it be if he didn't made the mistakes he made back then? Will he meet the same person as the result? What would his life feel like when he didn't meet Ruka and the others? Especially the girl who has been clouding his thoughts for quite some time now, how will his life turn out?

Natsume just stared at the moon and it's accompanying shining stars with the clouds while he listened to the rhythm of Mikan's breathing. He felt so peaceful, no worries, no problems, no sadness, just pure peace. He even forgot the mission for a while. After a while he abandons the moon and the shinning stars and instead stared at Mikan's face and started memorizing every inch of it, her long eyelashes, her small nose and her lips.

Time must have flown by quickly because Persona emerged from darkness and revealed himself.

"Wake her up" Persona ordered

Natsume looked up at him with a scowl. He really didn't want to wake her up, it was better for her to stay inside the academy. So he waked up Mikan, irritated.

"Hey little girl, wake up" Natsume said, Mikan began to stir but still didn't wake up. "Idiot… Wake up, ugly!"

"Why don't you try waking her up with your alice?" Persona suggested giving Natsume an interested glare.

"She'll just nullify it" Natsume said not really wanting to use his alice on her

"Hmmmm…. If I knew better Natsume, you're starting to develop feelings for this girl…" Persona said "Now wake her up, time is running out"

Natsume was really mad now. How would Persona know he was developing feelings before him? Natsume sent a death glare to Persona and knelt down beside Mikan. He stretched out his hands and shook her shoulders.

"Wake up, little girl" he shook her again

Each shake on Mikan, she began to stir more and more. Once she opened her eyes and revealed her brown eyes, Natsume's heart at the same time slowly opened up. Mikan smiled at Natsume and hugged him tight, completely unaware of another presence with them, Persona.

Natsume almost melted under her hug but prevented himself from that by doing the opposite, he stiffed. Even though he faked his reaction, he can't fake what he was feeling inside. Mikan hugged him tightly and said "It's good to see you, Natsume- Kun!"

Persona cleared his throat getting Mikan's attention. She looked at Persona still hugging Natsume. She looked at him curiously and asked "That's weird… you weren't there a while ago, sensei… dreams can be bad sometimes"

Persona almost let out a small chuckle but caught it just in time. "This is not a dream, little girl"

"What dream? Of course this is a dream, it's exactly the same place" Mikan explained

Natsume flicked Mikan's forehead really hard that made Mikan yelp out.

"What did you do that for!" she demanded

"You felt that right?" Natsume asked "That means you're not dreaming anymore, little girl"

Mikan blushed crimson red and stepped away from Natsume and Persona as far as possible in embarrassment.

"Let's get going now, Idiot" Natsume called out jumping up to a tree branch "I want to be done with it already"

"Alright" Mikan murmured. Then she looked up searching for Natsume but only saw Persona looking amused.

"He went that way" Persona said pointing at his right where you can see a shadow on top of a tree

"Thanks" she said then ran into that direction. When she knew she was out of earshot from Persona she wondered aloud "How am I supposed to follow him? I can't jump from tree to tree"

"I thought you were a natural athlete... why not ran after me?" Natsume said landing in front of Mikan who screamed in shock "Shut up will you"

"Sorry" Mikan said, she looked at the trees and decided, "Why don't you teach me how to jump from tree to tree?"

"And why would I do that?"

"So that we can travel faster"

"Be more reasonable next time if you want me to teach you"

"It is reasonable"

"No it isn't"

"Is"

"It isn't"

"Is"

'I can't believe I'm having this absurd argument with her!' he thought, 'this isn't making the mission done sooner'

As if reading Natsume's mind, Mikan suddenly sighed irritated and said "This isn't getting anything done sooner"

"It's good you realize that" Natsume said and started to teach Mikan her request, but not before he told her the rules "First of all no complaining; second, don't come crying to me if you're hurt or something"

The second rule made Mikan gulped loudly, and began to regret to even ask the favor. She was just about to back out when Natsume stated the third rule smirking with a touch of a smile, "and the most important rule, always have fun"

--

While Mikan and Natsume were having a lesson, their friends were also having a time of their own. Ruka has been chasing Hotaru at least half an hour already but she just won't give up, not that she ever gives up.

"Come on Imai-san!" Ruka shouted behind Hotaru "It's already quarter to midnight!"

"I'm not asking you to chase me, Idiot" Hotaru said

Ruka didn't reply, Hotaru looked back and saw that Ruka had sit down on a bench panting. She sighed and walked toward the boy and sat beside him.

"Why do you always want to blackmail me?" Ruka asked after he was shocked that Hotaru sat beside him.

She didn't answer; she just continued staring at the stars above them. Ruka looked at the stars above and rated the view from one to ten as eight. He looked at Hotaru's peaceful face with a tug of smile on her lips as 10. He considers her as the most beautiful sight ever seen by his own eyes.

"Beautiful" she muttered

Dazed by the sight in front of him, he agreed "Absolutely"

Hotaru noticed that he wasn't looking at the stars instead, he was looking at her. She turned to look at Ruka. "I was talking about the stars"

"Huh? Wh-what?" Ruka asked looking up at the stars, blushing

"I said I was complementing about the stars," She said again, looking at Ruka suspiciously, "I said they were beautiful"

"Yeah, yeah, you're beautiful" Ruka said.

A moment of silence.

Ruka wondered why the two of them were silent for a while. Then it hit him, hit him like a roll of thunder from the sky, he said Hotaru was beautiful. He risked a glanced at her who seemed to be at shock. She was just staring at him, mouth slightly open, and eyes wider than usual.

Ruka slapped his forehead hard and said "Sorry, Imai", and then he ran off.

Seconds later, after Ruka ran off, Hotaru called after him, silent tears falling.

Hotaru Imai is crying.

--End of Chapter 2

Like it? Pls review. I accept flames… : D


	3. Chapter 3

Another Life Journey

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

---

Mikan was a fast learner, Natsume noticed. She was able to jump from tree to tree at her fifth try. Natsume just wondered why Mikan's having a hard time catching up with the lessons in class. She's not that stupid to be called a dummy on class, if she just concentrates.

'Maybe she's really not interested in studies' Natsume concludes watching Mikan at the corner of his eye. Her face was glowing, he didn't know if it's because of perspiration or the happiness she's feeling.

No matter what is sent her way, good or bad, she always smiles. This made Natsume smile inwardly. Her smile can light up Natsume's dark corners in his heart, her smile tells him everything will be fine, her smile is everything that Natsume needs in order live.

"Natsume-kun!" Mikan called from his left. He looked at her and asked "What is it?"

"Can we rest for a while?" she smiled

Natsume did feel a little tired but he never stops for a break, he just stops running or jumping, he just walks slowly. Natsume sighed audibly and jumped to the ground followed by Mikan.

"Thanks" she smiled

"We aren't going to rest little girl," Natsume explained "if you stop you'll feel how tired you are, we need to go on, come on we'll take a walk"

Mikan sighed half irritated and half grateful. She knew Natsume was right; they need to go on so as to not feel the tiredness. She hurriedly followed Natsume and walked beside him.

They were silent through out the journey just enjoying each others company. Only the birds chirp, the wind's gentle breeze and the rustle of leaves can be heard. Their only source of light was the full moon high above them with its stars twinkling.

Their destination was only an hour away and Mikan decided to break the silence. "Why don't you try to use your alice to light up the way?"

"And why would I do that?" Natsume asked "you never know if there's a barrier or something… and besides you're just afraid of the dark"

"Am not" Mikan denied but Natsume just smirked.

Finally they arrived at the place. The mission given to them was to retrieve the kidnapped girl with the alice that could control other people's alice. She has olive green hair, and pale blue eyes with a fair complexion of skin. She was just the same age as Mikan and Natsume.

"Where do you think they're keeping her?" Mikan whispered at the back of Natsume's neck, sending a chill down his spine.

Natsume just glared at her and whispered back "Where do you think they're keeping her? Probably at the back of the place!"

"Great! So where do we enter?"

Natsume looked at Mikan partly furious and partly amused at her actions. He silently jumped from tree to tree looking for the back of the place. He abruptly stops and stared at one of the covered windows by the tree's leaves. There was the girl, pacing in panic and looking around for an escape, she was wearing knee-length shorts, a Victorian blouse and a pair of doll shoes with her hair tied in a tight bun. She looks like a teacher to Natsume.

He looked at Mikan and pointed to her the window. "Come on then! We can open the window from here!" she whispered

"What are you dumb? We can't do that! The window must be opened from the inside so that the alarm won't go off"

"That's weird" she said "How come they leave her in a room with a window?"

"They didn't noticed there was a window because light doesn't come in because this tree is blocking it and they only come here during nights" Natsume explained, he looked below but didn't see a anyone "Alright my guess is this; a barrier is put up so that we can't use our alice"

"So you want me to nullify it or something?"

"Yeah, so that I can light up a small fire to attract her attention and let her open the window"

"To be honest, that plan kinda sucks" Mikan commented

"I can't hear you giving any plans, do I?" He snapped "Alright, be ready… on three… one, two, three!"

"Nullify!" she hissed, shutting her eyes in pure concentration so as not to put too much force on the barrier or else the guy will feel it.

Through the sound waves, her voice was heard by only the two of them making it possible for Natsume to use his powers and not be detected by the barrier. He instantly lights a fire on his finger tip and puts it off and on and off.

The girl saw the flashing red light at the corner of eye and wondered if she was just hallucinating. There was no window, she thought, where does that light came from? She walked forward to the light and examined the wall closely.

Then she smiled, there was a simple lock slide covered in the same color as the walls around here. She reached up and slides it open. She carefully jump through the window and walked over to where Mikan and Natsume were now waiting.

"Hi, thanks for coming, I'm Aya" she smiled at them grateful for her rescuers, but looked confused at the same time "Did we meet before?"

"Nice to meet you, Aya, I'm Mikan and this is Natsume" Mikan smiled back "I'm afraid not, if we have I would surely remember you"

"Come on we better get going, they might check up on you" Natsume instructed

Just as he said that, they heard a door slammed loudly and a voice swearing just as loud. Natsume jumped to a nearby tree and looked at Mikan and Aya to do the same.

"I can't do that" Aya admitted

"It's alright… we'll be running below him" Mikan smiled and grabbed Aya's hands and started to follow Natsume.

After a few minutes of running, Natsume was sure a search party was looking for them. He began to travel faster and the two ran faster to keep up with him.

"There they are!" someone screamed from their right. Mikan looked at her right and saw that a guy was in good 80 feet away from them.

"Hurry up, you two!" Natsume shouted

"We're trying!" Mikan shouted back furious. She instructed Aya to hold on her tighter and ran faster with her.

As they travel, concentrated on escaping, they didn't notice that someone got ahead of them and was already waiting for them to arrive. Natsume jumped down and threw a fireball at the man in front of them. He quickly jumped out of the way and threw series of paper in their direction.

When the paper touched their skin the received a lot of paper cuts around their body. Mikan and Aya screamed in pain while Natsume just growled and sent fire balls on the papers. The papers stopped in mid air while they caught on fire, after a second, burning paper were passing through them, cutting their skin as well as burning.

Mikan and Aya screamed louder not having the chance to fall down in pain because papers were also below them. Natsume tried his best not to scream. If fire can't destroy it, water must, Natsume thought angrily. He grabbed Mikan's hand and pulled her along with Aya. They ran hard toward their east ignoring the pain they're feeling all over their body, the burning papers were still trailing after them.

Finally they arrived at a cliff and if you looked down a river was seen.

"On three we jump" Natsume hastily explained

"What!" Mikan screamed looking horrified. She seems to think of her chances at the papers behind them which was a good few feet away and will be coming to them fast.

"Come on, no time to think idiot!" Natsume said and push her off with Aya. He followed half a second after. He grabbed Mikan's hand as well as Aya tightly shouting louder than the two girls screams, "Don't let go!" He looked at his back and saw the papers still after them. Finally they reached the water where they were plunged into the deep and the papers got wet and join the flow off the water harmlessly.

Natsume lift up his head for air and soon Aya did the same. Natsume looked around but there was no sign of Mikan. He suddenly felt something heavy clinging in his hand and pulled it up. Mikan was unconscious.

"Help me drag her to the river bank" He said to Aya. Obediently she swam to Mikan's other side and grabbed her shoulder; together they drag her body to the riverbank.

"What do we do to her?" Aya asked in the dark when they were just staring at Mikan

"I don't know… do the CPR thing…" he suggested

"Why me?"

"Oh yes! Good idea! She would be so pleased when she finds out I did it!" Natsume said each word with sarcasm.

Aya just looked at him like he was crazy and glanced at Mikan's lifeless body. "Yeah I think she will…"

"What!" he cried "are you crazy?"

"Well, you do look good with each other!" she protested "I really thought you were an item back there"

"Will you stop arguing with me! She isn't getting better with us arguing!" he said pointing at Mikan's body with a tint of pink on his cheeks, for once he was thankful for the dark that surrounded them

"Oh shush will you" she said exasperated, "She'll be alright". She leaned over her body and did the CPR on her.

Natsume watched Mikan the whole time feeling quite stupid, irresponsible, confused and amazed. He never thought he and Mikan looked good together.

When Mikan started to release water and gasp for air, Natsume smiled inwardly while Aya smiled knowingly at Natsume's direction, her eyes with a twinkle of mischievous.

"What happened?" Mikan asked sitting up with her hand cupping in front of her heart as if she's having a heart attack or something.

Natsume looked up at the cliff they just jumped and smirked. Good thing it was dark, he thought, they probably didn't see us on the riverbank with the darkness.

"You fell unconscious after we jumped" Aya explained

"Oh yeah… we _jumped_" Mikan recalled

"Like you prefer burning to death," Natsume snapped "Why didn't you go up for air when you can't didn't have breath anymore?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to" Mikan admitted

"It's a freaking survival instinct, idiot" he half screamed and half hissed at her

"What do you mean," Aya asked confused "she didn't faint while in the air?"

"She faint under water" Natsume said. Aya just looked at Mikan as if she were a joke but didn't say anything.

"Okay done yet with the criticizing?" Mikan asked irritated at their gazes "we should get going. They would probably follow us down here"

"They won't," Natsume said knowingly "they probably think we drown or something"

"Well then, let's get going… I want to sleep" Mikan said "I don't want to be late for class tomorrow"

End of chapter

Hey thanks everyone for reading and reviewing my first fanfic to be posted here. I really appreciate it. Sorry if this chapter is kinda short.


	4. Chapter 4

Another Life Journey chapter 4

Disclaimer: GAKUEN ALICE IS NOT MINE. never have never will.

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

Persona and Narumi was the one who greeted the three children back to the academy. It was already quarter to 5 when they arrived and Mikan was feeling really sleepy already. She mostly tripped around the woods on the journey and sometimes tripping on her own foot.

"Good morning, Mikan, Natsume and Aya" Narumi greeted cheerfully in his usual clothes

"Good morning" Aya bowed politely at the two elders in front of her

"G'ning" Mikan mumbled her eye lids dropping already

Narumi just smiled at her and said "Why don't you and Aya share rooms for the day, I'll be talking to her later after she gets rest"

"Okay" Mikan nodded smiling at the thought of sleeping. She began to lead the way towards her room while Aya watched Mikan carefully as if she's going to drop dead sleeping on the ground.

Finally they reached the room and Mikan quickly lend Aya a set of pajamas and her a nightgown. She let Aya used the bathroom for her to change and her to change on the room.

Aya emerged from the bathroom looking fresh. "Hey Mikan, you can use—". She looked at Mikan who was already lying on her extra blankets on the floor, sleeping peacefully. Aya smiled and fixed the blankets around Mikan and put an extra pillow beside her.

Aya looked at the clock and saw that it was already 5:30 in the morning; Mikan still has time to spare before Aya wakes her up. Aya looked around the room, and it was neat and clean. She sat on the bed and looked at Mikan. Mikan was obviously tired and sleepy. Aya smiled and closed her eyes, but she opened it in a flash. She let out a sigh and stood up walking toward the window. A memory just entered her mind.

_When Aya was little, her Mom and she went to the carnival. They just finished eating their lunch and she found a really colorful table where an old lady is sitting opposite it. She approached it excited._

"_Hello!" Aya waved_

"_Good afternoon, young lady" the old woman replied, giving her a smile_

"_What do you do here?" _

"_Give me your hand, young miss," she instructed "And I'll show you"_

_Aya gladly obeyed curios at her job. _

_The old woman turned over Aya's hand making her palm face the two of them. She began to trace the lines on her palm, her eyes closed. "Close your eyes, dear and clear remove everything from your mind" _

_Aya did what she was told and after a few seconds something suddenly entered her mind. _

_She was in a room, colored in white and a window showing the fall of rain. There was a bed and someone resting on it, covered in sheets. Aya couldn't see who it was because it was all blurry but she knows that she was a she and has brown hair. She heard something against the rain drops on the roof and the window, she heard a sob. Aya noticed a boy with a violent shade of violet hair sitting beside the bed, his chin resting on his folded arms and tears silently flowing. She knew he was talking but she can't hear him, it was like he was so far away. All of the sudden the boy looked at her, confused. Aya turned around to see something really blurry. _

_In a flash, the white room disappeared, and instead the old women dropped her hand and began to hastily pack her things. _

"_What happened?" Aya asked_

"_That was just a glimpse of your future, young miss" she replied_

"_Where are you going?"_

"_Away, I finally understand it," she said with a click of her suitcase "Be careful and take care of everyone around you, Aya Gamei"_

"_How do you know my name?" Aya asked as the old woman walks away_

_She smiles at Aya and said "Your mother is looking for you, take care now Aya" _

"_Aya!" she heard her mother shout her name_

Aya sighed again looking at the raising sun. The school was enormous. Suddenly she heard Mikan mumble something, "No pls. don't… let us go"

Aya stared at Mikan when she began to mumble again the same words, and her body began to releases cold sweat. Aya immediately walks toward her and shakes Mikan up to wake.

"Mikan wake up" she said "come on Mikan, you can do it… it's just a dream… a nightmare… wake up Mikan"

A few more tries and she finally woke up, panting and sweat covering her body. Her eyes were wide open and were shocked to see Aya beside her but then she remembered the night's event.

"What happened?" Mikan asked standing up with the help of Aya

"You had a nightmare" Aya replied, she saw the confuse and terrified look of Mikan and added, "You were begging to stop and you were all covered in cold sweat"

"That's bad" Mikan murmured

"What was the—?"

"Pls. don't tell anyone about this, pls. don't" Mikan said playing with her hands, "Pls. don't I'm begging you…"

"O-Okay" Aya agreed "Why are you so terrified about it? Everyone have nightmares"

"Oh that's right…" Mikan said ignoring the question, she headed at the bathroom door saying "I think I'm going to start the morning early then I'll show you around"

Aya just stared at Mikan entering the bathroom, confused. She lie down on the bed and slowly she was falling asleep getting used to the sound of the shower.

That dream, Mikan thought, it's been coming more and more frequently. How come I have that dream? Is it a warning or something?

She ducked her head under the spray, rinsing out the shampoo and the sensation. As she washed out the soap, the feeling reminded her of something in the dream, a new piece that she'd nearly missed. Before the only thing that was focus was her and only she but now it became clearer, she was with someone else. And she was begging and begging.

Who is that? She wondered who would be with me. Suffering with me? Kidnapped with me?

All of the sudden a picture of Natsume entered Mikan's mind. She just sighed and said out loud "It does make sense… but Natsume? Suffering with me?"

She turned off the shower and wrapped the towel around her body. She quickly wore her uniform and put on her coat and a hat. Even though winter was still far, every morning she feels real cold.

Mikan goes out the bathroom and saw that Aya was sleeping peacefully. Mikan watched her sleep for a while and sighed. No matter how tired she is, she won't risk having a nightmare again. So Mikan decided to try and study the lessons for that day and so she sat in front of her study table and opened her book. Time pass by and she eventually got to tired and fall asleep, her head on her open Math book.

--

"Finally she wakes up!" Aya cried exhausted after shaking Mikan up for almost 10 minutes. Mikan's alarm went off fifteen minutes ago.

"Huh? Wh—what?" Mikan asked lifting her head from the book looking at Aya confused "what happened?"

"Ummmm, your alarm went off like 15 minutes ago…" Aya replied

"HUWHAT!" Mikan burst standing up and ran inside the bathroom. Clearly she forgot she was already in uniform. She ran out of the bathroom seconds later muttering to her how stupid she was.

"Here Mikan, I fixed your bag for you" Aya said handing Mikan her bag

"Thanks" the hurried brunette replied grabbing the bag at the same time removing her coat and hat, without much success. She fell on her butt and groaned "Idiot Mikan"

"Just calm down and you'll get there," Aya said helping her up "I promise"

"Thanks, hey," the other said standing up removing her coat and hat "you going to be alright here alone?"

"Yeah, I'll just have to wait for Mr. Narumi to call me" Aya said smiling "Come on hurry up, you're going to be much late if you don't go now"

"Yeah" Mikan sighed and ran out of the room "See you later!"

"Okay"

The moment Mikan went out of her room she ran toward her class room. She was already 15 minutes late. She shouldered her back pack and winced. She stopped from her tracks and fell down on her knees. She was holding her shoulder in pain hoping to make it numb so as to not feel the pain.

She winced more when she fell down. Her wounds from the papers were finally taking effect on her body. She looked at her legs and saw numerous cuts, some were bleeding, some were just scratches but some were also painful even though it wasn't bleeding.

She sighed and crawled toward the wall to her left. There she rested her back on the wall, but that too, was painful. She got out her hanky and wipes the blood off her legs and arms. She stood up with the support of the wall and continued her tracks with the help of the wall.

On the way to the class room, Narumi came into view. When he spotted her, he came running toward her just as her legs were giving up. Narumi catches her just in time before her fall.

"Mikan!" Narumi screamed "What happened to you?"

Mikan just smiles at him and sat on the floor, "Wounds I got yesterday finally showed up…I was beginning to wonder…" she chuckled

"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?" he asked

Mikan smiled again and said "Yeah, can I enter before you come in the room? I don't want to be late"

Narumi just nods concern in his eyes. He helped Mikan stand up and ushered her to the room.

"Okay, I'll be entering in a few minutes" he informed her

"Thanks, Narumi-sensei!" Mikan beamed and entered the room.

She entered the room and greeted everyone and hurriedly went to her seat.

"You're late" Hotaru stated

"I overslept again" Mikan reasoned with a nervous laugh.

"You're lucky the teachers got an early meeting today" Koko said

"Yeah, lucky" she murmured glancing at the door. She caught sight of Natsume reading his manga at the back of the room, Ruka sitting beside him, while petting his bunny. "Hi Ruka! Natsume!" she waved at them

Ruka waved back at her with a smile and a tint of pink showed when he saw Hotaru staring at him with the same emotionless eyes. He lowered his head making his bangs cover his face. Natsume, however, lifted his head up, only a little to acknowledge Mikan.

But that fraction that he lifts his head up, she saw he has a small scratch on his right cheek. It wasn't really bleeding but it was really red. She wondered how come nobody notices.

Minutes passed by and Mr. Narumi still hasn't entered the room. Mikan began to wonder what he was doing outside. Soon he entered the room and the students kept quite and seated.

"Okay class, we have a new student arriving today," Narumi cheerfully, "You can come in now, Aya"

The door opened and Aya entered the room in school uniform. She stands in front of the room with a smile plastered on her face. Some of the boys whistled and mumbled while girls gazed at the pretty girl in front.

"Hello everyone, my name is Aya Ganeku" Aya said shyly but smiled broadly when she caught sight of Mikan smiling to her and giving her all the courage she needs for the day.

"What's her star rank and Alice, Narumi-sensei?" Yuu asked

"She's a Special Star and she has Power Alice (I made it up. hehe. If you're wondering what it is, refer to chapter 3)

"Wow" the class murmured

While the class did this, Mikan and Natsume took it as a chance to examine the girl in front. The two noticed that she has lots of cuts on her legs and arms, but only few were really visible. However, the two didn't notice that Hotaru was also giving the new girl a closer look.

"Who's her partner, sensei?" someone asked

"Um... Is it okay with you Mikan if you'll be her partner as well as Natsume?" the blonde asked the brunette

Mikan beamed at excitement and nodded.

"Good," he continued "you can sit at the chair beside Mikan, Aya"

Aya smiled and said "Thanks"

"Okay class, see you" he said leaving the room with a smile "Free period for now"

--

At a far away place from the academy, a pool of water illustrates the actions of a certain brunette who keeps the missions of the anti-organization a failure. They were observing Mikan Sakura.

"We really need to take her out, or make her join our side" a deep voice stated from the dark.

"I agree" another said "She's the reason why most of our missions are failing"

"We need to make a plan on how to get her" the 1st one said stepping out of the darkness capturing him. His name Kai Lie. He has long black hair tied up in a low ponytail and bangs covering his enticing eyes. Yes, he is a villain but he was a loving and cheerful person. Only an incident changed all he was into a treacherous villain. And now he is here for revenge.

The pool of water glowed and showed Mikan and a girl with raven hair. Mikan was running toward the other girl. When she suddenly got blown to the corner of the room, by the gun the raven haired girl shot her.

Kai Lie smiled remembering his days, and it disappeared as fast as it appeared. "That's her best friend; one way to lure her to us is to get her love ones"

--

Hope you liked this chapter of mine.

Pls. REVIEW. Tnx. Reviews always help the author gets into the mood in writing. 


	5. Chapter 5

Another Life Journey chapter 5

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

"How's first day treating you?" Mikan asked Aya

The five of them, Hotaru, Mikan, Aya, Ruka and Natsume were sitting under a tree after classes. They were just sitting there talking and getting to know each other.

"It was good" Aya smiled

"Hey can you demonstrate your Alice for us?" Ruka requested "I'm really curious on how it works"

"Sure" Aya smiled again. She looked around but no one was around "Um.. who wants to try it with their Alice?"

"What Alice can be a wonderful presentation? We only have the Alices of invention, animal pheromone, fire Alice and nullification" Mikan said

"I think fire would be the most cool and most presentable" she answered

"Will you?" Mikan asked Natsume with puppy eyes only for his eyes to see "Pls. I really want to see how her Alice works"

Natsume cursed inside his head, how I can always give in with those eyes! It's so nice! Natsume produced a fire ball in his hand and throw it above the lake. The second he threw it, it became a large flame; it was like a house was burning and the atmosphere around was warm not hot. Then the large flame turned into a small a blue flame and the atmosphere was really hot. Then the flame was extinguished when it fell on the lake.

"Wow!" Mikan exclaimed "That was cool!"

"You can control the heat it emits as well as its form?" Hotaru asked

"Yeah" Aya answered

"Thanks for demonstrating for us, Aya!" thanked Ruka

Then the school bell rang, alerting the students that dinner will be ready in a few minutes.

"Come on, dinner will be ready soon" Hotaru said, standing up

--

It was quarter to twelve and Mikan can't sleep even though she's so tired. She was lying on her bed just staring at the ceiling her mind racing about the possibilities why she was having those dreams. She stayed like that for many hours now and soon her alarm clock rang, telling her another day has begun. She sighed and sat up. She got her coat and slippers.

Mikan decided to go out and watch the stars and the moon with her old friends. The birds, the trees, the frogs, and the breezes, they're keeping her company. She lay down on the grass just staring at the glowing crescent moon above her as well as the stars.

She closes her eyes and slowly drifts into a slumber when she heard a voice. A voice she was all too familiar with.

"You shouldn't be here all alone" Natsume said

Mikan groaned thinking I finally got the chance to sleep and he ruins it, she said "What do you mean?"

"You're face was seen during the mission, you're probably their target now" he explained

"Target? You mean they'll try to get me? Or kill me?"

"Either of the two"

"Oh, that's bad" Mikan sighed and tries to sit but can't seem to. She panicked and cries out for help, but soon passed out. Natsume sighed and was followed by a groan.

He walk toward her body and kneeled beside her. "You should have calm down, you were just to stressed out" he murmured

He lifted her body and carried her bridal style to her room. He let her down on her bed and got out the window. "Have a nice dream, Mikan"

--

"NO!" Mikan screamed, sitting up. She looked at her clock and was shocked to know that it was only quarter to 5. She sighed and lay back down, only to sit right up again. Just lying down was making her remember her dream.

_Mikan was running around an empty Alice academy grounds. It was midnight with the moon on its fullest and highest as well as the stars. She was searching for her friends, she needed them badly. _

_She checked every room she passes by but no one was there. Then all of the sudden she heard a scream. She ran toward where she heard the sound. She ran as fast as she can with her heart beating so fast and loud. She swore she could hear her heart beating._

_Another scream was heard, but this time it was a male's voice. She turned right hearing it in that direction. She pushed open the doors and she was inside the Academy's kitchen. The room was pitching black, she waved her hand in front of her face but she can't even see it. _

"_I'm glad you came, Mikan" a girl's voice said_

_Mikan turned to her right were she began to notice a faint color of bright green. She recognized that voice, it was Sumire's._

"_Where is everyone? Where's Hotaru? Natsume? Ruka? Yuu? Koko? Na--?"_

"_Shut up!" Sumire shouted at Mikan_

_Mikan's eyes were big like a saucer. "Where is everyone?" _

"_Here" Sumire said "In this very room"_

_When she said those, one by one a candle was lit open. The room was crowded._

"_What are you all doing here? What is going on here?" Mikan asked _

_No one answered. Their eyes were covered by their bangs._

"_Yuu? What happened?" Yuu lifted his head and his eyes were hollow and has no life in it. "Koko, answer me, pls" _

_Mikan cried and search for her friends, she knew who had done this. Reo He used his Alice to make them like this. _

"_Mikan," a hoarse voice said "go away from here Mikan" _

_The brunette looked at the owner of the voice and was shocked to see her beloved grandpa._

"_Oji-san" she whispered. She fell on her knees her tears streaming down her face and falling on the cool tiles. _

"_I love you, Mikan" her grandpa said "Take care"_

"_Mikan as you know, the anti-organization wants you to join them" Sumire said "Now you have a choice, you join them and all your love ones lives or you decline and they die… choose"_

_Mikan angrily wipes her tears and stands up saying "I'll join them now let them go" _

"_Good" Reo said appearing from behind Sumire_

_Mikan's friends were protesting about this and her grandpa started crying. "Don't do this Mikan, we aren't worth you joining the cursed organization"_

"_I'll do anything for you grandpa and my friends to live"_

"_Enough with the talk" Reo snapped and he cluck his tongue._

_Mikan looked at him horrified, she turned her attention to her love ones who was all kneeling and they were stabbed at the heart._

_Mikan screamed and she woke up._

That was Mikan's dream. Currently, Mikan is seated on class, trying to learn something from the discussions. Her head is still spinning around the dream. The whole day she didn't utter a word, except during her greetings. Everyone noticed her spacing out and entering her own little world. Some will approach her but she'll just ignore them not hearing a word they say. The whole day she was like a robot.

Dinner arrives and that was when she got out of her trance. She was greeting everyone again and flashing everyone a smile. Everyone at first didn't know what to do when she smiled.

"What's wrong?" Mikan asked when Yuu instead of a cheerful smile gave her a freaked out smile.

"The whole day you were on your own little world and now you're smiling again. That's just… well… unusual" he replied

"Well I'm back now! Sorry everyone if I ignored you earlier" Mikan apologized

"Its okay" everyone replied flashing her with a smile which she returned.

After everyone ate their meal, they all went to bed or do some home works. But Mikan didn't, she went out the building and sat on one of the lined benches near the Northern Forests. She took a deep breath and released it slowly.

Mikan just stares out at the dark and the part where her grandpa was killed flashed inside her mind. Mikan holds back her tears and groans. She knew she won't be getting any sleep that night all alone or without something to take her mind off the dream. She tried to recall all her wonderful memories with her friends but every time she does, pieces of her dream flash through her mind. Their empty eyes, their blank faces, their grave stones, their lifeless bodies the memories were flashing like cars on her mind.

Mikan stood up alarmed when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. It was Natsume.

"You need to relax a little, idiot" Natsume drawled

Mikan relaxed a little but a sudden emotion hit her when she sat down. An emotion she only feels often, sadness and depression, because of this she hunched and hid her eyes behind her hair which were let down.

Natsume sat beside her but not to close but not to far also; he began to worry for Mikan. Before Mikan hid her eyes he saw a flash of emotion filling her orbs. "Is there something wrong?"

This is wrong, I should not be seen with anyone or else they'll get hurt, Mikan thought. "Nothing, thanks though" she said not looking up

"You're such a bad liar," he said "Come on, tell me what's wrong"

"Why would you care? You don't even care for me, you just consider me an annoying girl" she said. I'm sorry, Natsume. She badly needed to get away from the people she loves or else it will be all her fault.

Natsume was hurt when she said those words, how could she think that? Yeah, sometimes she's annoying but her smile is all it takes to forget about those times. What is wrong with her? "Mikan, do tell me why you're like this" he whispered, staring at the sky above them.

Mikan hold back a sob, Natsume really cares. She looked at Natsume between her hairs, and saw that he wasn't smirking or something like that, he's concerned. Suddenly, Mikan can't take it all any longer, she needed to tell someone or do something, and she doesn't want anything to happen to her love ones. Her vision began to blur and she choked on the air she inhaled.

Natsume looked at Mikan who still is hiding her face. She looked at him, and saw there were tears and the same emotions filled her eyes. Natsume felt a wave of protectiveness over her and swore whoever made her that way will pay. Mikan buried her tear covered face in Natsume's chest, and Natsume drew her closer still, wrapping her up in his arms. He knew his shirt is getting soaked by the tears but he didn't care. All of his focus now was on comforting Mikan.

Mikan cried for a long time and for a long time Natsume comforted her, bringing his hand up and down her back making Mikan have a soothing feeling. Mikan decided it was enough of crying and she sat down beside Natsume with no space between them.

"Thanks, Natsume" Mikan said, she rested her head on his shoulder and she began to tell her dream to Natsume.

"Don't worry, Mikan" Natsume started "Everyone will be fine, just believe in them"

"Thank you so much Natsume" Mikan whispered

Natsume just nods and they stayed silent for a long time. Natsume used this time to sort out everything his feeling for the girl beside him. He knew she was more than a friend to him, a crush perhaps. Yes, yes it's a crush, nothing more than that, for now. Natsume sighed and murmured the girl's name beside him. He looked at her and saw that she's sleeping. He memorized this familiar face because he knew; some day they'll be apart as what the gods planned to do to the pair. He sighed and carried Mikan to her room, bridal style.

He laid her on her bed and was about to leave when Mikan sat up and said, "Natsume, don't leave me all alone"

"You need some rest, little girl" he said, but still not opening the door

"Pls. just for tonight" Mikan begged, she stood up quietly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You need sleep; you just can't go on without sleep"

"Pls.?" she begged

"Fine" he stated, the moment he turn around to face Mikan she smiled before she fell into his arms, asleep.

He once again placed her on the bed. He stared at her for awhile and put the blanket over her. He didn't know what made him do it, but he did, he kissed her forehead lightly. His cheeks had a tint of pink in them but he shrugged it off. He looked for futon and set it up. He placed it just a few steps away from the bed. Before he drifted off to sleep he heard Mikan mumble on her sleep his name.

---End of Chapter---

Did you like it?? Sorry if there's not much of Hotaru and Ruka scenes, I can't seem to think of a plot. If you have some suggestions. Do tell.

this will be the last chapter for awhile. exams are coming. tnx for your time.

Pls. REVIEW. Tnx. A review always helps the author gets into the mood in writing. 

Advertising(hehe): read my other fics. Exam Frustration (RxH) and One way or another(NxM)


	6. Chapter 6

Okay the first thing i did after exams was to continue this story. tnx everyone! enojoy!

Another Life Journey

By: prettygreeninkyz

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

--

The next morning Mikan woke up quite happy and relaxed. She wondered why, she looked at her clock and saw it was still quarter to six. She sat up and noticed a neatly folded futon on the floor with a note on top of it.

_You talk when you sleep, idiot_

_Natsume_

Huh? What does he mean--? Mikan thought then realization dawn unto her, Oh yeah, I begged him to stay with me for the night. Darn, was I stupid last night.

She headed for the bathroom slowly, glad that it was Saturday. While taking a shower she recalled the night's event. She can clearly remember that she cried on Natsume, telling him all about the dream and he was comforting her.

"Don't worry, Mikan, Everyone will be fine, just believe in them" Natsume said in her head.

Yeah, everything will be alright. It will always be right. I just got to believe in them. Mikan told herself. She dressed herself up wearing her uniform underneath her black coat, and tying her hair in a high ponytail instead of her everyday style.

When she got out of her room, she become conscious of the fact that the line she keeps repeating on her mind, Natsume said her name. Then she noticed the whole night he used her name. Mikan smiled at this and ran out of the dormitory happily.

On her way to see Hotaru and the others, she bumped into Aya.

"Hey Mikan!" she called out "how are you doing?"

Mikan walked toward her, she was sitting alone on tree branch, just staring out at the endless view of trees.

"I'm good," Mikan half-lied after settling beside Aya, "you?"

"Fantastic!" Aya exclaimed "this school is amazing, it's huge especially!"

"Yeah" Mikan smiled remembering her first days at the Academy

They were silent for a while, just enjoying the view in front of them. Only now did Mikan notice that they were sitting on one of the highest trees in the academy.

"Don't you miss you're family?" Mikan suddenly asked

Silence.

"Aya?" Mikan looked at the girl beside her and noticed the spark in her eyes were gone now, but her smile was still plastered

"My parents left me when I was born, left me to an aunt of mine with a letter" Aya explained "My aunt has two kids, two boys, and they always pick on me and stuff. Only my aunt treats me like family there"

"Oh" was all Mikan can think of saying

Aya sensing that Mikan was stuck at words grinned and patted her on the back "Don't worry about it"

"I'm sorry I brought it up" Mikan apologize

"I said don't worry about it" Aya repeated, Mikan looked at her eyes to see that spark is back there already

"Hey what're you going to do today?" Mikan asked

"I don't know, maybe go to the library to catch up on my studies," the other planned "what're you going to today?"

"I don't know, hang out with Hotaru and the others I guess," she replied "want to join us?"

"Nah, but thanks anyway" Aya smiled, she looked out at the view once again and said, "I'm going to go now, start studying and stuff, see you around"

"Okay" said Mikan "see you around"

Aya started to climb down on a lower tree branch before jumping on the ground. Before leaving she flashed Mikan a grin which Mikan returned with a smile.

Mikan stayed there for a while after Aya has left. She moved her way to the tree's trunk and rested her back on it, her legs stretched out in front of her. The branch she's sitting on is wide enough to make her feel safe.

Mikan sighed and once again thought about the dream. She knew what Natsume said the night she had the dream was true, she'll be the target. And her dream clearly states that.

"Don't worry, Mikan, Everyone will be fine, just believe in them" a voice said in her mind

But believing in them isn't good enough!, she retorted to the voice, I need to do something else.

She didn't need to think for hours, the answer popped on her mind with in minutes. She jumped back to the ground with a plan on her head, heading to the opposite direction she was heading at before. Yes, she's going to avoid them. Less pain for them and me, she said to herself.

--

Ruka walked out of the dormitory building sighing. Turns out, Natsume is going to spend this day in his room, resting.

Ruka headed for the fountain when he saw Hotaru already sitting there. She already saw him, so there's no turning back now. No way to go now.

"Hey Imai," Ruka greeted sitting beside her but on the edge of the bench in case she decided to attack him "what're you doing here all alone? Where's Mikan?"

"So you're talking to me again now, are you?" Hotaru said not looking up to

"What do you mean again?" he asked, "I've always talked to you"

"Yeah right" she said with a tone that clearly states that she knew he was lying

"Yes, I've always talked to you" Ruka insisted

Hotaru pointed her baka gun at him and said, "Let me help you remember then"

Ruka gulped getting ready for the impact, but it didn't come. He risked a glance and saw that Hotaru still hasn't looked at him but the baka gun still pointed.

"Yesterday, we were partnered," Hotaru started "I asked you what to do on the project, you clearly heard me but you didn't answer, and your eyes are looking anywhere but me. Then another incident, during lunch I sold a picture of you wearing Mikan's uniform to Sumire in front of you, I expected you to chase after me demanding the pictures back but you didn't. Yes I intentionally sold it in front of you to talk to me, but instead you looked anywhere but me, you hear anything but my voice" Hotaru finished but still not looking at him, and damn it! Do you know how much that hurts?!, she wanted to add.

Ruka stayed silent ashamed of himself, but he doesn't understand why she would like him to notice her.

"I'm your friend, Ruka," Hotaru said, answering Ruka's thoughts "and I don't want to lose one"

"I'm sorry," Ruka said "I'm really sorry, Imai"

Silence.

Ruka decided to start another topic, not wanting to leave her alone. "So, Hotaru, what are you doing here all alone? Where's Mikan?"

He didn't realize it at first but he soon he realized he used Hotaru instead of Imai. He decided to wait for her reaction.

"Who told you, you can use my first name?" Hotaru asked, monotonously. However, Ruka took it as sign of anger. This time he didn't look at her. He ran away, once again.

He was only given 3 steps when he was pulled back by a mechanical hand. He tried to break free but, as Hotaru wanted it, he can't. He was soon in front of Hotaru, who was now standing.

What he saw made him stop struggling. Her eyes were wet and tears were flowing from it.

"You can't run away forever, Ruka" she said, still in a monotonous tone. Clearly her tone will never be affected by what's seen outside "so what if you called me Hotaru, I didn't say I had a problem with it—"

"But your voice was angry" Ruka reasoned whispering

"Really? I think the tone of my voice never changed, don't you agree?"

Ruka flushed, "Yeah I noticed that"

"So now you know, you can use my name already," Hotaru said "and what was that you said that night? Yeah you said I was beautiful, and you ran away! Damn it! If only you looked back at me you would have see how much you've hurt me!"

"How could have I hurt you—the great Hotaru Imai—hurt by Ruka Nogi? How? could you tell me why?" Ruka asked suddenly mad, but not because of Hotaru but because of himself. How could have he hurt Hotaru? He was especially careful about that.

"You never noticed, did you?" Hotaru whispered shaking her head and pressing a button, the mechanical hand let go of Ruka.

"Noticed what?" he asked, fixing his uniform since it got all wrinkled

"Do you know why I keep on blackmailing you?" Hotaru asked "It's because, first I wanted to save money for my inventions but the second is really unexpected, it's for you to notice me"

"Oh" was all Ruka could say

"And now I leave you with all the information you need to make a move, Ruka" Hotaru said. Hotaru sighed and left Ruka standing there.

As Ruka stood there, he didn't notice someone creeping behind him. It was Koko.

"You know what I read in her mind, Ruka?" he asked sitting on the bench the two were occupying just minutes ago. Ruka shook his head. "She said go after her and tell her what you feel" Koko chuckled, "actually what was clearly on her mind was, 'Why don't you help the jerk, Koko? Tell him tell me how he really feels and don't you dare read my mind ever again'"

Ruka smiled and ran after his beloved Hotaru Imai, to tell her how he really loves her and cares for her. He doesn't expect anything of the girlfriend of the sort, but he just hopes that they'll be close to that.

Koko laughed at Ruka and entered the dormitory building to see Natsume standing on the door way.

"Enjoyed the show?" Koko asked

"Never thought Ruka could be so stupid" Natsume said

Koko chuckled heading for his room, leaving Natsume on his own. He headed for the northern forest, off to my favorite place in this academy, the Sakura tree.

He arrived there and it was a magnificent sight. The sun high on the sky, winds hitting everything that goes there way, Sakura petals flying everywhere. He catches one petal and smiled remembering Mikan's smile.

Just like the Sakura petal whenever it falls it will never die, it will always live, just like Mikan's smile it never fades from her face.

"I wonder where she is," he thought aloud. He let go of the petal from his hand and sat under the Sakura tree. He was just staring at the rising sun when he felt a presence near him, Persona.

"Another mission—for the two of you—making sure Kai Lie," Persona said, "he's a great adviser in the government, and he's coming here to visit his Alma Mater"

"What kind of Alice does he have to have that position?" Natsume drawled

"Visions of the future" he answered, "Same time, same place"

With that said, he left, leaving Natsume all alone. Another mission, huh?

--

Mikan harshly pulled the handle for the shower, frustrated. Two hours from now and Mikan and Natsume's mission will start. Mikan did not like it, she was supposed to avoid everyone and not get involved in anything.

She quickly but thoroughly washed her hair, scrubbing her skin and brushing her nails. After the quick bath, she dressed still not in a good mood. She looked out her window and saw that the moon was already out and shinning bright.

She ran out of her room and into the deep of the forest. She looked up and somehow her mood started to alter little by little. Then she remembered there was another mission. She screamed releasing her tension as well as her frustration. She knew others heard it and will be arriving some time soon. She quickly heard shuffling of leaves from her right. She sighed and jumped to a tree branch settling herself on it. She looked at her watch and saw there was still a good one and a half hour before the mission starts.

She looked down on the students that arrived at her place a while ago and saw it was Aya and Yuu. They must have been exploring in the forest when they heard her scream. Mikan thought, maybe I could talk to them.

When she was about to jump down, she caught Aya's attention. Aya frowned then looked at Yuu's direction. She shook her head and leaf the place with Yuu. Mikan didn't understand why she would do that.

Mikan didn't dwell a long time on Aya's action and realized that if she showed herself to them she would probably break her promise to herself, avoid everyone. She sighed and was tempted to scream again but controlled herself; instead, she kicked the tree's trunk. She jumped down deciding she can't take it anymore, the silence.

She headed for the meeting place and napped there for a while. Soon none other than Natsume joined her.

"I want to thank you for last night, Natsume," Mikan said

"Don't mention it" he dismissed

Mikan smiled inside, this would be a good reason to avoid him. Persona soon arrived and he gave Mikan a mask. It was all covered with gold glitters, it was just like any other mask, its like the mask used for balls but hers is full.

"Does this mean she's always on the mission?" Natsume drawled

"Yes, now start the mission" he ordered

Natsume nods and jumped to the nearest tree branch to another. Mikan sighs and puts on her mask; she jumps onto one of the branches and then jumped after Natsume, who was not that far.

Persona waited till the two of them got lost in the darkness. He was quite surprised to see Mikan jump from tree to tree. Seems like Natsume likes the girl, he thought, that's a huge problem in the future. He sighs and looked at the moon, he felt his spirit lights up and he grinned. Yes, the moon makes him smile. He stayed like that for a while and decided that its time to go and do his business.

--

Natsume and Mikan never uttered a word during the travel to the highway. Natsume waited for Mikan to complain on how tiring it is but it never came, on the other hand, Mikan knew Natsume was waiting for her to complain.

Finally, they arrived at the highway and caught sight of the black limousine driving away from a big house. When the car was in front of them they followed it from the woods, jumping from tree to tree. So far, nothing has happened.

When the car was just a street away from Alice Academy's grounds three suited men appeared in front of the car and aimed there guns at the car. Natsume quickly set their guns on fire and they let it go. The car swerve lightly but it didn't get off the lane. It continued headed for the school's ground but this time faster than before.

Natusme and Mikan jumped on the ground fighting the three men, to be more specific Natsume did all the fighting. While Natsume was busy with the three, another two swooped down on Mikan. The two aimed their guns at her but she screamed, they staggered at the unseen force Mikan used. Natsume and the other three felt it too but they only flinched, as Mikan's scream was directed at the other two. Natsume grabbed Mikan's arm and the two jumped to a tree. When the five composed themselves, the two of them were out of the sight. Mikan gasped, when she saw Natsume's arm bleeding, making the five point there guns at their direction.

Natsume wanted to smack Mikan then, but he decided that protecting themselves is the priority one. He made a fire barrier on the five. When he was done and the five men were trapped, that was the time he smacked Mikan hard. She only winced and rubbed the back of her head.

Natsume started to jump to another tree not taking notice of his injured arm. Mikan wanted to call him back to put away the flame he ignited that was keeping the five men from escaping. She looked at the five and noticed that the fire was gone and the five men were panting on their knees. Mikan grinned and followed after Natsume.

Natsume and Mikan arrived at the meeting place and saw Persona standing there.

"Good work, now go back to your rooms" he said then walked away

Natsume walked away while Mikan stood there fighting with herself. Should I help Natsume? He's hurt. She reasoned, but if I help him that would get him close to me, I don't want that.

Mikan didn't follow him, instead she ran to her room as fast as she could and get her personal kit of first aid. It's specially made from Nonoko, so that whatever chemical there is that makes it sting won't sting anymore and the process of healing is much faster. She run next to Natsume's room and leave it at the door with a note that says, _use this, it's one of Nonoko's potions. It won't hurt one bit and it heals much faster._ She didn't write her name cause that would be too suspicious. She knocked at the door incase he got there first, and then she ran away. Not sensing someone hiding in the shadows.

Natsume smirked at Mikan's retreating back and picked up the kit she placed. He entered his room and placed it on his bed. He took a shower first then put on his pajama but only the pants.

He sat on his bed and started to apply the cream on his wound, it's a half-inch open wound not to deep though. Natsume agreed on Mikan, it didn't sting one bit and heals much faster. The wound started to heal itself little by little. Natsume wrapped it with a bandage provided by Mikan and put on his pajama shirt.

He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about what Youichi said, Natsume ran to Youichi's room first before he came back to his room. Every mission when he comes back to the academy he visits him first to assure him he's fine. This time Youichi noticed that he got injured. He said to Natsume, Be careful, Onii-chan, I don't want to lose you.

When he said that, Natsume saw again why he was still alive and doing the school's work. It's because of these people, he thought, Youichi, Ruka, Mikan and the others, they are the ones I live for. I haven't killed myself yet for them. I want to watchthem grow up and know their achievements.

"You won't lose me, Youichi" he whispered then he fell asleep.

While the students sleep, the teachers work overtime. Narumi and the other teachers greeted Mr. Kai Lee to the Academy. They had a small welcoming dinner for him and let him go to sleep. In his room he sat on his beige leather couch and called someone on his phone.

"How'd it go?" asked Kai on the phone

"Pretty good, they've given her a mask" the person replied

"That's good… that means she'll be working for the Academy from now on" he grinned

"It's all working out as planned"

TBC

---

Did you like it? Pls. review. Sorry if this chapter kinda sucks. And I know I'm not good at fighting scenes. I know this chapter is kinda useless sorry about that.

Thank you everyone for reviewing. I hope my reviews reach up to 60 .I just wish. Not demanding though.

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One way or another NxM

Exam frustration RxH


	7. Chapter 7

Another Life Journey

By: prettygreeninkyz

summary:

Mikan gets into missions. since she has one of the rare alices she's is on top of the WANTED list of the AAO. find out how she will answer and in to what extent will she prove it to them...

--

Narumi finally entered the classroom and the students fell into their rightful seats. Mikan didn't bother to greet anyone today; she didn't even try to hug Hotaru.

"I'm sorry I'm late, class" he apologizes after greeting them, "the teachers just had a meeting about out guest. Mr. Kai Lee, he's a great adviser to our government and this is his old school" he smiled "He came to visit the school and see how it's doing, and I want you all to behave properly, will you?"

"Yes, Mr. Narumi" the class answered in unison

"Good, now I think he mentioned visiting classes, and he mentioned your class, so be prepared" he stated, "Now, let's study!"

Mr. Narumi's class is twice a day ( A/N: made it up) and on his second class Mr. Kai Lee was with him. Mr. Lee has long black hair tied on a loose ponytail, eyes brown as a trunk of a tree. The class greeted the two adults and proceeds to their lesson. All the time Mr. Narumi was discussing, Mr. Lee was observing each child. He kept a close eye on Hotaru, Natsume and Mikan. The three noticed it but they didn't give it a second thought. What Mikan and Natsume thought was, why he glared at Aya in an almost 'I'll get you' way. When the class was at the middle Mr. Narumi gave them an activity. He grouped the students and told them what to do.

"I want you and your group mates to make a graph of your life so far, the ups and downs, to be passed tomorrow morning; I want everyone participating on this project"

The students quickly grouped themselves and talked about the project. Hotaru walked at the back as her group mates were all seated at the back. Mikan, Natsume and Ruka were all quite when she arrived, Hotaru wondered why.

Time passed and no one from the group spoke, they were just doing their own work. Mikan tried her best not to complain and ask help from her friends. While they were working, Mr. Kai Lee approached their group and eyed each child.

"This group is the most quite of all" he commented squatting beside Mikan, "what's your name?"

"Mikan Sakura, sir" she answered with a small smile, feeling quite happy to have her voice out again

"And you Madame?" he asked Hotaru on his left

"Hotaru Imai, sir"

"Ah yes, Hotaru Imai, the one with the invention Alice, yes, yes, you're always talked about in companies, you and your inventions" he grinned, "it's nice meeting you" he offered his hand to shake, Hotaru looked at it first with a look almost calculating but seemed to make up her mind and shake hands with him nonetheless happy.

Mr. Lee smiled as he saw visions of her in the future; he almost smiled evilly when he saw the room number she was sleeping in on this Academy. He let go and turned his attention on the blonde sitting across Hotaru. "And you sir?"

"Ruka Nogi" he answered nodding at him casually

"Ruka Nogi, the best friend of the black cat, I heard" Mr. Lee stated looking at Ruka waiting to see his reaction. Ruka of course was shocked but didn't react as what the adult expected instead he just smiled. "Nice meeting you" he shook his hand smiling.What he saw was the face of a very angry Ruka Nogi, a glimpse of him sitting on a chair on a deserted room.

Then he turned his attention on Natsume, "and you must be the black cat of the school, yes I know all about you, you're the one helping the school"

"I wouldn't exactly call it helping, but if you say so" he answered, more like drawled; he stared at his eyes for awhile and saw he's a very powerful man on the city. Yes, he has the look of a powerful man on his eyes.

"Nice meeting you, Natsume Hyuuga" he said offering his hand for him to shake. Natsume shook his hand the briefest moment and released the hand, but that was enough for Mr. Lee to look on his future. What he saw made him mad. He saw Natsume burning lots of trees on a very familiar place, his manor.

He was just about to leave the group when a voice stopped him, "is it not a pleasure to meet me, sir?"

He looked at the owner of a voice, Mikan Sakura, she was almost pouting but she clearly limited her actions to that. "Of course it was a pleasure to meet you Madame Mikan"

"It was also a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Kai Lee" she answered stretching out her hand for his to shake. To say Mr. Lee was appalled was a lie; he was more than appalled on Mikan's actions. He never expected a child of this age to act so mature.

"It's also my pleasure meeting you, Ms. Sakura, you're a very polite little girl" he complimented shaking her hand.

--

"DAMN IT" he cursed loudly inside his room. He was seated on his black leather couch with a drink on his table. Mr. Kai Lee was mad, he didn't see it coming. How could he not see it coming when he has visions of the future? That was what made him mad.

Glimpse of future he collected earlier was now gone, he knew it's in his head but he can't seem to reach it. He concentrated real hard, it was there, glowing on its shiny blue light, he tries to release it but he can't.

"That girl" he hissed, "the nullification Alice girl, Mikan Sakura, she's going to pay, oh yes, you're going to regret you ever touched me"

--

Mikan sat on a tree's branch and watched the moon on its highest; it was 3 days before full moon. And she's starting to dread that night.

Mikan sighed and looked at the window she's guarding, Hotaru's and Ruka's. She was afraid that maybe something will happen to her best friend and her blonde friend. She knew Mr. Kai Lee was giving Hotaru and Natsume close looks during the class and she started to worry about her friends' safety. There's something in his eyes she doesn't like, she hated it, but she knew there was something in there that's just being clouded by the thing she hated. And when he mentioned that Ruka Nogi was Natsume's best friend, she also began to worry about him. No one should know who Natsume's best friend is from the outside that will put Ruka in danger.

All of the sudden, Ruka's light opened in his room. She saw shadows and soon Natsume looked out the window, searching the view as if he knew Mikan would be watching Ruka. He started to turn his head on her direction and she hid on the other side of the tree, blocking out the view of Ruka's room. She glanced at the window and Natsume was gone but the lights were still on. She resumed her former position but there was someone there.

"What are you doing here, Mikan?" Aya asked

"I should ask you the same thing" Mikan answered sitting on the branch

"Watching our friends, you?" she answered casually

"Watching" Mikan answered avoiding the word 'friends'

The two watched the two windows quietly and Mikan began to wonder why she suddenly felt that she must touch Mr. Kai Lee earlier.

"Did you feel something strange about Mr. Lee?" Aya suddenly asked "He seems kind of familiar"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think maybe I saw him during my kidnapped on my house before" Aya recalled, "yeah that was definitely his eyes and hair, his eyes held something most humans can't and it was so familiar to me"

"He did glare at you in a way of 'I'll get you'" Mikan said

"Oh yeah, I felt that, I didn't dare look at him though, you never know what he'll do, even in a room full of students" she answered

"Yeah…" Mikan started worry "so if he's in the anti- alice organization, then all of us here in this academy is in trouble?"

"Maybe…"

"You know I suddenly felt the urge of touching him earlier, I don't know why though" Mikan confessed

"It's because of your nullification Alice senses" another voice answered, the two girls looked at their new arrival and saw Natsume sitting on the other side of the tree. Mikan looked at Ruka's room and the lights were off already.

"How did you get here?" Aya asked

"You know, if you were to apply for a job watching your prey, you're probably not going to be picked" Natsume answered, "as I was saying before, it was your senses due to your Alice that you felt the urge to touch him, I thought you knew that"

"Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense, I, too, sometimes have the urge to use my Alice on another Alice to strengthen it or weaken it, it's kind of freaky in way" Aya said

"So what did I do to him when I touched him?" Mikan asked

"My guess is that, what he gathered from the people he touched or seen the future of this day, he probably can't have the access of recalling it, you nullified it" Natsume said, "in short, if he really is involved in the wretched organization you protected us for the day"

"You saved us, Mikan" Aya smiled at her

"But you aren't protecting yourself" Natsume said "I know what you're doing Mikan, I know why you're here outside instead of the inside, warm in Hotaru's room, you're avoiding everyone you love" Natsume suddenly felt anger rise within him, how come she isn't watching over my room, "I told you once it's not right, it won't do you or any of the ones you're avoiding any good"

"You're avoiding us?" Aya asked Mikan

Mikan didn't answer; instead she bowed her head, her hands clenched in a fist on his lap. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes, falling to her hands. "Natsume, its three days before full moon, you know what that means do you?"

Natsume felt lost at first, then he remembered her words on the dream, _it was midnight with the moon on its fullest and highest as well as the stars. _"Yes"

"Then you understand why I'm doing it"

"But don't you remember what I told you before? _Everyone will be fine, just believe in them_"

"But believing in them isn't good enough!" Mikan cried

Aya started to wonder what they were talking about, then she suddenly remember Mikan having a nightmare. It really wasn't a nightmare, wasn't it? She asked herself, its dreams of the future. Now she understands why Mikan didn't want anyone to know she's having those kinds of nightmares. It just shows she's having a trouble leading life.

"But you need to believe, Mikan" Aya told her putting a hand on her shaking shoulder, "everyone will be troubled if you don't help yourself, no one will feel happy about it"

"But—"Mikan tried to protest

"Try to put it this way," Natsume said "Keeping them in the dark will endanger them more, you need to live life the way you did"

"But can't I just leave—"

"There is no other easy way than that, Mikan" Aya said

Mikan cried loudly and her body shook more violently. That dream must have been terrible, Aya concluded. Natsume wanted to do something to comfort Mikan. He glanced at Mikan, he saw Aya gave him a look and said to him, more like told him by doing it, to him that he hugs Mikan.

He approached the brunette and hugged her. At first it was light, but then he felt her shaking so badly that he begun to hug her tightly as if she's going to disappear any moment. He knew Mikan needed help to everyone who can.

He knew he have started to fall for this girl hard. Yeah, if only she can feel the love he has for her, if only she can hear me shout her name. If only she can feel the hurt he feels inside when she's sad, not talking to him or in danger. Yeah, if only. Now there's a part of his heart he can feel that's empty without her. Feeling like its to empty that it will soon fall to his digestive system and forever will he have no heart. He closed her eyes and hugged Mikan, who stopped shaking now but still crying.

Mikan was shocked when she learned that it was Natsume who was hugging her. She thought it was Aya. But then she smelled the sweet yet spicy smell of Natsume. She knew how she must have look to Natsume crying, a little girl helpless and unguided. But the moment she felt Natsume's arms encircle around her, she knew she was safe and will never be alone.

--

The next morning, Mikan, Natsume and Aya all have dark circles under their eyes. Mikan's old self was back and everyone was happy again.

"What did the three of you did last night?" Ruka asked the three

"Nothing much, just doing something really important" Aya answered

"Oh, what is it?"

"Secret!" Aya teased

The whole day passed by and soon it was night again. Mikan and Natsume were to do again another mission. Mikan didn't want to; she wanted to watch her friends. She wanted to guard them and make sure nothing will happen.

"Don't worry; I'll take care of them" Aya assured the stressed brunette

"You know, I think we should have told Mr. Narumi that Mr. Kai Lee is from the anti-Alice organization"

"Come on, I want to get this over with" he said jumping out of the tree and heading to do their mission. They told Aya they'll be coming back in two hours.

Three hours have passed and they still haven't arrived yet. Then, lights opening on both rooms she was watching caught her attention. She jumped to see what was happening on both rooms and saw that one guy on each room was carrying the student on the bed. She quickly broke the window and headed for the baka-gun on Hotaru's table, she started shooting the guy and he soon let her down. On the mess she was making, she was sure students were starting to wake up. Hotaru was let down on the floor and she started to punch the guy.

"Hotaru! Do you have something loud enough to wake Ruka up? He's also being kidnapped!" Aya asked Hotaru

Quickly, Hotaru opened her drawer and turned on a radio. She opened it and it released a very loud scream of a girl. The guy in front of Aya tumbled back on its sound. He fell on a hip of invention. Hotaru pressed a red button on the hip of invention he fell on started to tangle themselves around the intruder. Aya quickly entered Ruka's room, she saw that Ruka was up and was fighting the guy, but the

Guy was using his Alice on him, invisibility.

Ruka called on his dear friends, animals. He called the bats and the owls, best for nights. The birds began to crowd an invisible form. Soon, he was forced to show himself. Aya fired the baka gun on him. And animals Ruka called soon attacked him. He fell on the ground, beaten.

Mr. Narumi entered the room and ties him up with his whip; he began to pull him to Hotaru room. What Narumi saw made him laugh. Hotaru was simply having fun testing her invention on her intruder. Narumi's laugh made Hotaru stop and have her invention tie the intruder tightly with the other intruder.

"Are you three okay?" Narumi asked

"Yeah" the three answered

"Wait a minute, what brings you here Aya? Isn't your room upstairs? On the special room?" Narumi asked

Aya began to stutter, she simply scratched her head nervously.

"What are they doing here, sir?" Hotaru asked

"I don't know"

"How did they get in?" Ruka asked

"I think they got in by a inside man" Narumi answered

"Oh" he said

"Where're the other students?" Aya asked

"These two are the only one planned to be kidnapped" Narumi answered

"How do you know that?" Ruka asked

"I'm a fake" he said, and then his appearance of Narumi began to shift into a woman's form. She has red hair, pink eyes and stands 5'9.

Ruka began to call his animals, making the room be filled with crows but it suddenly disappears. Now they saw, a man with big muscles. He began to carry the three out of the room. Hotaru drew out a tiny blade and cut the man's skin, blood soon zoomed out. She got a small vial and filled it with his blood. The man began to howl in pain now that he felt the cut he received. Hotaru quickly dropped the vial on the floor label with, _enemy's blood_.

On the way out of the dormitory, fire greeted them. The man's appearance began to shift back again on its woman form, making her body petite and weak. She dropped the children and began to throw daggers in any direction. Hotaru crawled to her side and sliced open her skin on her leg. Aya began to strengthen the power of the fire and soon she controlled it to envelop the woman with fire. She screamed inside the fire, but Aya made sure it did not touch her. She began to wonder why she screamed.

"No! Snakes! No! Get away!" she screamed

"Huh?" Aya looked at Ruka who just had a dumb look on his face. She searched the place and saw Yuu concentrating very hard.

Soon, Persona arrived and he took the woman who was still murmuring snakes under her breath. Persona nods at Natsume for good work and left the place.

"Where did you come from?" Aya asked Yuu

"I heard the ruckus from my room," he answered "don't worry, I made sure everyone is safe before I got here"

"Cool" Aya smiled

Ruka went to Natsume and asked if he's alright.

"Yeah, just tired from the other mission"

"You mean this isn't your mission?"

"Nope"

They heard a gasped and that was soon followed by a sigh. The four of them approached the lying form and saw it was Mikan around her was her own pool of blood. She was hit by the daggers the woman threw, one on her arm and one on her leg. Natsume quickly carried her and ran straight to the hospital. The other three quickly catch up on him using Hotaru's invention. He quickly joined them. Natsume whispered calming words to Mikan and to himself, to stop himself to follow Persona and hurt that woman badly.

"Come on, we're already here" he whispered "hold on"

When they entered the emergency room Narumi was already there, the doctor quickly put Mikan on a bed and operated on her. He made the others wait for him to fix her up.

"What happened?" Narumi asked

"Hotaru and Ruka were being kidnapped, then I helped them, then you—another you—came in we thought you were you but you weren't so she got to us and she tried to kidnapped the three of us then fire was downstairs then she began to throw daggers then Yuu came with his illusion then Persona came and got her then we heard Mikan, then we brought her here" Aya explained in a manner were Narumi needed to open his ears to understand every word.

"How about the other students?"

"The woman said, we were the only ones planned to be kidnapped" Hotaru answered

"How many were there?"

"3 including the woman"

Narumi excused himself and talked to the nurse on the table; he dialed something on the phone and told the person on the other line that intruders are on the loose.

"How come you and Mikan were together?" Ruka asked

Natsume looked at Aya, who didn't know what to answer as well, he looked at Mr. Narumi who had the look of it's your choice. "I bumped into her"

"Where?"

"I was walking around the school when she came running saying, the two of you were in trouble" Natsume lied

"How did she know we were in trouble?" Hotaru asked

"Ask her, not me" Natsume answered

--

An hour has passed and the doctor finally allowed them to see Mikan. Mikan was lying on the bed sleeping, her hair was brought down, and she was wearing one of the hospital gowns. Her skin was pale and she wasn't moving. It was as if she was…

Natsume shook his head in the thought and cursed himself for thinking that.

"I was surprised when I got to her body, you know. Aside from the daggers there were also broken bones" the doctor stated "where was she before the dagger incident?"

Natsume began to recall their mission. IT took them an hour to end that mission. They were nearly beaten; luck was just on their side that time. But before that, Mikan was thrown everywhere, she can't fight back. Once, Natsume saw her flying to wall then to the ground.

"We were on a mission" Natsume answered thinking its best to let the doctor know the truth.

"Well, I think she'll be staying here for a while" the doctor said and left the room.

"Mikan do missions?" Hotaru asked

"Yeah, her first mission was to rescue Aya, this is only her third, the second was to make sure Kai Lee arrives safely in this Academy." Natsume answered "and Mikan will really want to tell you guys herself so don't tell her you know"

"By the way, Mr. Narumi," Aya said "there's something important we need to tell you about Kai Lee, he's with the anti-alice organization, I saw him during my kidnapped before"

"Thanks for informing me, Aya" Narumi smiled, he looked at his watch and saw it was midnight, "come on you guys, I'll be watching Mikan, you go to your rooms, you have classes tomorrow"

TBC

---

Did you like it? Pls. review. And I know I'm not good at fighting scenes. I think this story will be near at its end, I'm not sure but thanks anyway for reading it.

Read my other fics:

One way or another NxM

Exam frustration RxH


	8. Chapter 8

Another Life Journey

By: prettyingreenkyz

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

The others nodded and quietly exited the room. Narumi stared at Mikan's motionless body. He recalled their times together, their first meeting, the time he gave Mikan her new uniform, the smile on her face when she was given the star. He smiled as he recalled the peaceful days of Mikan, ad now because of him allowing her to get caught on the darkness Persona was spreading, her life is always in jeopardy.

Narumi almost cried in front of Mikan's body but he stopped himself, that will almost look like she was already… he cursed himself for thinking that and sighed. How can he keep on losing friends, first Reo and now Mikan?

Hours passed and Narumi began to think about the problem at hand, Mr. Kai Lee's presence in the academy. All of the sudden the door opened. He turned his attention and saw that it was Jinno.

"How is she holding up?" Jinno asked

"Barely living, the doctor said—in private, of course—the dagger sliced an artery in her arm, the one pumping 3000 liters of blood per minute"

(A/N: I'm not exactly sure if that's correct, I did my research and I think I failed, as I'm not completely sure, main point here is to make it sound that she's near in dying)

"Well then she's lucky she was brought here as soon as possible" Jinno said

"She sure is lucky to have friends like them" Narumi agreed, "so what brings you here?"

"Just checking on what she got herself this time" he answered taking a sit on the white couch

"Oh… I want to talk you about something" Narumi said

"What is that?"

"When Aya and the others brought Mikan here, Aya told me that Mr. Lee is involved with her kidnapped"

"So you're saying that he's from that organization?"

"Yes"

"Do you have proof for this?"

"No, but I have suspicions"

"And what are these?" he asked, making Narumi feel like he's being investigated on some crime he didn't do

"Imai said that during their almost kidnapped that, the fake Narumi said they were let in by an inside man"

"That will make the students in trouble if he really is from that organization" Jinno said, he stood up and began to leave the room, "I'll be bringing this up with the other teachers, for now we will be keeping an eye on him"

"No offense, but I think the students are doing that since he arrived" the blonde smiled

--

As the five students went out of the room and headed for their dormitory, they couldn't help but wonder how Mikan got involved in this kind of mess. Aya couldn't help but feeling responsible for everything Mikan is now. She was the reason she started doing missions. If she didn't exist then Mikan won't be hospitalize at the first place. Aya beat herself on that fact all the way to her room, when Natsume stopped her.

"That idiot, won't probably like it, beating yourself up I mean" he said once they were alone on the corridor for Special Star students "she'll just think it's her fault anyway, she's always like that, taking all the blame, you shouldn't be like that"

"Neither should you" Aya said to him when he was about to close his door. He flashed her a look sending chills down her spine. There is definitely some love going on between the two, Aya thought entering her room.

The next three days, Mikan was confined in the hospital getting regular visits by her classmates and friends. Mornings and classes were dull without Mikan around and it made the Class B devastated. NO one was there who'll greet them every morning, there will be no ruckus every morning when Mikan is not around to try and hug Hotaru.

Everyone in the room felt sad. Even Sumire misses Mikan but she tries to deny it.

"This is the best day ever!" the cat-dog Alice owner exclaimed one day, "no loud idiot little girl… Mikan" she said the name with saddened eyes.

By then, rumor spread that Mikan was having missions, of course only six know that it's true. Koko, Hotaru, Natsume, Yuu, Ruka and Aya were currently sitting inside Mikan's room one afternoon. Mikan was up and standing in front of the window with her hair in their usual style.

"Should you be standing up, idiot?" Hotaru asked sitting down on the couch

"Nah… the doctor said, I'll be released tomorrow, and they are just checking if I'm up and ready to go" Mikan smiled back at her friends

"Oh that's good" Aya sighed

"So what's been going on with Mr. Lee?" the brunette asked sitting on her bed

"Since you've been hospitalized he has been keeping a close eye on everyone" Ruka stated, patting the head of the rabbit

"What do you think is his plan?" Koko asked. Mikan and Natsume glanced at each other which Hotaru noticed but didn't give another thought

"Hey, I thought you were the one with the mind reading Alice!" Yuu exclaimed

"Er… he's been guarding his thoughts around me, sorry" Koko explained

"Oh…" the group expressed

"But we do know that he is planning right?" Yuu confirmed

"We're not sure but I think he is… cause he won't be keeping a close an eye on us if we don't" Aya said

"And what percent is it that it was a coincidence that kidnap happened on the same day…" Hotaru stopped not bothering to finish the sentence since it will only inform Mikan they already know she's having missions

"Same day of what?" Mikan asked

"Nothing" the group answered while Natsume stared out the window and Aya looked at the yellow flower on Mikan's bedside table

"Oh… you know it now don't you?" Mikan asked looking at the floor, close to tear "I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you… it's just that I didn't want to worry any of you…"

"You would have worried us either way if you keep us in the dark about that crucial information" Hotaru reasoned

"I'm sorry" she apologized once again, Yuu sat beside her and patted her on the back

"Don't worry, Mikan, we won't tell anyone…" he assured her

Mikan shook her head stopping the tears start to fall from her eyes. She smiled at them and said, "Thank you everyone"

Everyone smiled while Natsume just kept his gaze on the window but saw Mikan's smiling face reflecting and he felt his heart melt. He smiled inside at how Mikan seemed to be handling things on her own way.

--

"Where are the children?" thundered a voice inside a warehouse

"We had company" one of the men from his right answered

"The two came back from their mission to early" the one on the left provided

"And whose fault is that?" he asked with a loud voice, making some of the men cringe on the sound

"They were too good, Mr. Lee they still escaped even with broken bo—"

"They are only two stupid little brats!" Kai Lee told them with anger on his eyes

"Sorry, sir" the men chorused at the same time

"Now what the fu—"Kai started but was interrupted by a soothing voice inside his head saying, 'there's no need to go that far, darling', "We'll start plan B on full moon, one month from now"

"Yes, sir" they chorused again

With that said Kai Lee exited the warehouse and told his transporter to teleport him back to the academy. When he was finally alone inside his room, he lay on his bed facing the ceiling. He wouldn't be able to sleep that night, he was sure of it. After hearing the voice of his past lover, he began to wonder what would have happened if she was still alive.

She died because of the very organization he is in now. Her name is Emma Iou. She has long blonde hair, emerald eyes, red lips and porcelain white skin. She was perfect for Kai Lie. He has long black hair tied always in a low ponytail and bangs covering his blue enticing eyes, his lips weren't red but it was pink near red, his skin wasn't as white as his lover but his skin was fair.

The two of them were meant to be, the people said

Of course, Emma has to lie to Kai for his safety. Only, she didn't know that keeping Kai in the dark was just going to keep him in more trouble than he already is. Emma is a special agent for the anti- Alice organization. Very few know who she is and everything about her. Only her boss, his boss's secretary and Kai knows everything about her. Nevertheless, Kai is kept in the dark on some things, especially her last mission.

Emma stood outside her boss's office preparing herself for the meeting. She was resigning, she can't live life with Kai in danger, and they are of course going to be married soon.

"This will be my last mission, sir" she stated looking directly into her boss's blue eyes

"Will you be willing to train some new members, then?" Her boss asked, "Its such a waste to get you all unemployed when you have a space here"

"I'll think about it, sir" she said relived. Some said that giving your notice of quitting will make the boss real mad and like torture you or something.

"Your last mission will be to kill these people listed on this paper" he said handing her a paper which she took

"Who are they?"

"They are the ones running the academy, be careful with Edrik Hik, some say he's got a powerful Alice" he warned

"Yes, sir, thank you for the warning" she nodded

"I expect them all to be dead in 48 hours" he instructed

With that said, Emma left and headed for her office where she immediately looked information or whereabouts of the victims. In the middle of the night, an email pooped up. She clicked it open and gasped.

A picture of Kai beaten up tied up in a chair surrounded by pool of blood showed first. Under the picture it said, "_Accept the mission and he gets _**it**_" _

Emma scrolled it up and down many times hoping there'll be another message. But that was the only thing typed. She tried to trace the sender but it ended up with a result of being sent by an anonymous and free email address, making it completely useless on her part.

She began to worry. She called their house but the answering machine always answered it, she tried his cell phone countless of times but no one answers and soon it was out of battery. She looked at the clock and saw that it was already 12 in the morning. She looked at the list her boss gave her and the folders his secretary gave her. Only three names were listed, Patrick Hik, Ana Hik and Edrik Hik. The last name was circled in red pen. She looked through their files and found out that, Edrik is only 10 years old with pale skin, blue eyes and black hair. His Alice information was unknown while his parents' Alice was, elemental Alices.

Emma wore her black coat determined to kill whoever did that to her beloved fiancée. She headed out the enclosed building with guns and daggers all hidden inside her clothes and brought her car keys. She drove her black Hummer to the address the files indicated. The house was free from prying neighbors and she was sure the security was tight there.

She parked her car under a big shady tree and headed to the back of the building, she planned to kill the parents first then the kid. She met only few guards but she quickly diminished them with her Alice, the ability to dissolve anything in to thin air (A/n: the one like Persona).

Soon she arrived at the parents' room to find it dark, and the only source of light is the moon showing from the window. There were three bodies on the large bed; the one in the middle was a small child, Edrik. Emma approached the bed silently but soon she the alarm went off and the family woke up with a start. She ran toward the bed and soon vines were following all around her. The work of the mother, she assumed. She felt a vine wrapped around her wrist but once it touched her it dissolved. She wasn't wearing any controllers (a/N: is that right?) making anything that touched her bare skin dissolved. Her coat and gloves left on the back of her car.

She jumped to the bed and quickly touched both adults, in mere seconds the two disappeared with sadness and love in their eyes. Edrik soon cried and pushed Emma off the bed, she griped his bare hands but he won't dissolve.

"You! Where have you put my parents?!" he demanded standing in front of her with so much hatred in his voice

"They're gone, Ed" Emma answered coldly, "Now it's your turn!"

She charged at him, she touched his face but he once again didn't dissolve, soon vines and snakes were crawling all over her body, the boy standing over her as she began to fall down on her knees.

"I have the cancellation Alice" he said, "I already canceled your Alice, and now using the Alices I copied from my family…"

"Kill me now"

"No… I think I'll let you suffer first…" he said coldly as if he has never lost his parents. He closed his eyes and an illusion of Kai tied up in a chair bloodied up showed in front of her.

"It was just an illusion" she whispered

"Yes, the email was just sent to trick and provoke you…"

"Why would you do that? Your parents are DEAD! Dead! I tell you… I killed them with my bare hands!" she shouted

"Oh they're not parents, they were fakes!" he cried out, "you didn't realize it but… your boss planned all this out"

"So you're really not the principal?" she asked

"Puh-lease" he said as if it was a sin to be called the principal, "your boss knew you were going to quit any time soon because of that Kai Lie, you think he would let his best agent and the one with enough knowledge about the things going on be freed just like that?' he asked with a snap of his fingers

So they were right, she thought, you do get tortured

"So now what are you going to do?" she asked, her mind blank from any escape plan, she knew without her Alice she was just any normal human being and can't survive to tell and live the tale

"Kill you, of course"

"What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing… but I was given instructions to kill you the hard way" he stated

"Are you really only 10 years old?" she suddenly asked

"No" he answered; soon he became a full grown man in his early 20's. He left the room and locked the door from the outside, he called more vines and snakes and one by one when he was out of the room bit and crawled their way up to her.

He listened very hard to hear her scream or plea but he heard nothing, all he heard were the words, Kai, I'm sorry and I love you. After that, he heard a thump on the floor.

He opened the door and snapped his fingers, making all the vines and snakes diminish. Emma was there laying face- flat on the floor. There were no bloods, only bruises from the vines and bites from the snakes. Her eyes were closed and her lips were curled up in a smile. It was if she didn't regret anything she has done while she was still alive.

Suddenly, the phone rang, "Hello?"

"Is it done?" a voice asked

"Yes, sir" he replied more focused this time

"Nice work, Teel Lie"

--

TBC

---

Did you like it? Pls. review. And I know I'm not good at fighting scenes. I think this story will be near at its end, I'm not sure but thanks anyway for reading it.

Thank you everyone for reviewing. I hope my reviews reach up to 75 with this chapter. I just wish. Not demanding though.

Read my other fics:

One way or another NxM

Exam frustration RxH

I'M TERRIBLY SUPER SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOON ENOUGH! I WAS TOO BUSY AT SCHOOL. DON'T WORRY I'LL FINISH THIS STORY THIS SUMMER...I HOPE.

REVIEW PLS.


	9. Chapter 9

Another Life Journey

summary:

Two different people together in a mission where dangers abound and feelings developed. Face with a difficult situation, what will she choose, to live in a dream where there's no pain or to come back to reality where somebody is waiting?

-------

so very sorry for the super long update. looks like i won't be finishing this story this summer. sorry. i've been busy. anyway. on with the story.

--

Kai now sat on the balcony of his room watching the moon from high above. Emma was killed by his brother, because of jealousy.

He, all of the sudden, recalled the talk they had when he found out.

"Emma's dead" Kai informed Teel on the phone

"Yeah, I know… sorry about that" he answered "she was such a lovely fine lady"

"Yes"

"Too bad we had to eliminate her…" he said "I haven't got the chance to fuck her"

Silence

"You—the organization eliminated her?" he whispered, ignoring the fact of his brother wanting to fuck his fiancée

"Yes… you see, she was planning to quit because of the marriage you two will have, but no one gets out of the organization just like that, it's a lifelong service, no one will leave it with memories intact, not tortured or killed. Emma was a special agent as you know, she had a special Alice and no one can actually defeat her with it, except me of course"

"You? You volunteered to kill her?"

"Well, when you say it like that it does look like bad but it isn't…" he reasoned, "there were a lot of men included, we lost maybe 10 – 15 men against her… I had to remove her Alice and use _your_ kind of Alice to defeat her, elemental ones. You knew from the very start I envied you… you had the looks, the Alice from both our parents and what do I get?! A freaking Nullifying Alice!"

"You were always much stronger than me, Teel" Kai said

"Stop it! You can't change our childhood memories! No one can! Now that I've come to my ascending of my other Alice I have finally out grown you!"

"The Alice of copying and removing an Alice of another Alice" Kai said

"You knew?" he asked

"Of course, I knew… everyone knew!" Kai said his anger leaking out. Teel killed his Emma because of jealousy and to prove a point he is much stronger than him. "You were the only one who didn't listen to what your dreams were telling you!"

"My last words to you, _brother_" he said emphasizing the word brother, "I've always loved Emma, Goodbye Kai"

After that the phone line went dead.

Kai (present) sighed at the memory and shook his head. He should have known his brother loved Emma. He loved her too much that he volunteered to kill her as to not have a death of torture. From what he said he used his (Kai's) inheritance Alice, elemental Alices.

Kai Lie has the Alice to see visions of future and his inheritance Alice is elemental Alice, fire, wind, water and earth. Their family line goes to the strongest of the Alice users. They are one of the strong bloods. Teel and Kai's father was an only child and he with his mate bore only two off spring, Teel and Kai.

"I'm sorry, father" Kai said aloud "I think this would be the last of us…"

He was sure he won't find any replacement for Emma and he hates to think to go marry someone else when he doesn't love the person. How it much it would for that girl if she knows.

He suddenly recalled the night he decided to join the organization his wife was in. It was only months since Emma died and Kai Lie was burying himself in work. He went to the organization and talked to the boss.

"I want to replace my fiancée's position"

"And who is your fiancée?" the boss asked pretending to not know. His plan was obviously working. The bait finally did its job.

"Emma Otai"

"I'm sorry but she passed away three months ago" the boss said

"And I'll take her position"

"Her position is high… you might not qualify for it" the boss tested him

Kai rose and eyebrow at him in question and in split seconds the boss's room was covered in vines.

"Do I?" Kai asked in a firm voice

"Yes, you do, now I see what Emma liked about you" the boss said, "you stand up for yourself, you will be trained by my secretary, Kara Minamoto"

"When?"

"If you like, you could start now"

That day was the start of his work. He buried himself into work, forcing himself not to think of what happened. In the next 3 years of working he was assigned to kill or better yet, get the brunette he's watching now, Mikan Sakura.

--

Mikan was released that day and she went about it screaming it on top of her lungs. She visited first Tsubasa and Misaki.

"How are you feeling?" Misaki asked Mikan as she hugged them

"Terrific… I've been well since the day before yesterday… they just wanted to make sure I'm fine…"

"That's great!" Tsubasa exclaimed "So what are you doing now?"

"Nothing much…"

"You know, since you've missed class for 5 days I think its best to catch up already" Misaki hinted

"Oh alright…" Mikan sighed and shook her head with a knowing smile, "I know when I'm not wanted…"

"Wh—what?!" the two screamed after the running Mikan

"Don't be too obvious though!" Mikan cried back waving at them who were both tomato red in the face.

The brunette ran toward her room to retrieve her things and headed for her morning class. On her way over she bumped into Natsume. They both fell on the ground.

"Sorry" Mikan said

"Watch where you're going, stupid" Natsume just groaned standing up

"I said I'm sorry" Mikan repeated

"Yeah and so?" Natsume asked coldly staring down at Mikan

"Whatever" Mikan said just as cold and stood up walking away from Natsume. 'You want to play that cold game? Fine by me' she thought

'What is she up to now?' he thought as he watched her walk away. Natsume shrugged it off and headed for the Sakura tree and get some well-deserved rest.

--

Two weeks have passed and everything was going normally. Mr. Kai Lee left the school 3 days after the incident. Everything was fine except for Natsume and Mikan. The two were being cold with each other.

"Hey are you mad at Mikan or something?" Ruka asked his best friend

"Why would I be?" he asked back

"I don't know, it's just that you seem to have been… well quiet lately—quieter, I mean" Ruka smiled

"Hn" was all he received as a reply

The two continued their walk and as they were about to round the corner they stepped on a cord and they were suddenly trapped in a net. Natsume tried burning the line but there was something making it indestructible, probably one of the student's Alice.

"Darn it won't break" Natsume said after a few tries

"I guess we'll have to wait until someone pass by" Ruka sighed and settled on a comfortable position.

"You're actually enjoying this are you?" Natsume asked with a glare

"Well, we actually haven't have time together for so long now" the blonde concluded

"We have times you know I've been with you for 2-3 weeks what more do you want?" Natsume asked his friend

"Nothing much, just your undivided attention"

"You always have my undivided attention"

Ruka seeing that this argument was pointless just shrugged and said "if you say so"

Natsume kept quite after that and also settled on his comfortable position. Minutes passed and still no one has pass. Ruka looked at the hallway clock and saw that there was still 30 whole minutes until classes are dismissed which mean they can't get out until that 30 minutes is finished.

"So since we have time… why don't you tell me what's going on with you and Mikan" Ruka suggested

"Nothing to tell" Natsume said dismissively but obviously Ruka didn't take it as a dismissive tone.

"Well then will you care to explain why a friendly crow said to me that he saw you watching Mikan's room?"

Natsume tried his best not to blush and successfully he did. He glared at his friend and but he didn't budge. "It's none of your business"

"Oh, can you at least give me a clue?" Ruka suggested

"Don't waste your time, you can just ask Mikan yourself if I can tell you her secrets" Natsume said

"She tells you secrets?" Ruka asked

"Yeah, is that so hard to believe?"

"As a matter of fact, yes" Ruka admitted scratching his chin "when did this exchange happen?"

"A while back" he answered

"How did it happen?"

"I bumped into her outside the dorms"

"Oh..."

Natsume smirked after a few minutes of silence and said "You know if you were the old Ruka, you would have probably attacked me"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ruka asked

"If I'm talking to the Ruka who loves Mikan in a different manner, this conversation wouldn't be this calm, right?" Natsume pointed out "You're in love now with Hotaru Imai, am I right?"

Ruka blushes and back away as far as possible from Natsume and denies what his friend just stated.

"No need denying it" Natsume declared, "I know"

Minutes passed in silence each deep in thought. Suddenly, the two heard footsteps. It was like the person was more like crawling than walking.

"Who do you think it is?" Ruka whispered

"No clue" Natsume admitted "better be on guard than sorry" He produce a ball of flame ready to throw it to the intruder.

The sounds were becoming clearer each second.

Only seconds before the person rounds the corner and show himself.

Finally, the two friends saw a pale hand, a brown hair, and then brown eyes.

It was Mikan on the ground, crawling and looking pale.

"Mikan?" Ruka asked surprised "What are you doing down there?"

Mikan looked up as she heard the familiar voice and saw the two best friends stuck inside the net. Mikan laughs nervously and sat Indian style on the floor with her back resting on the wall.

"I didn't expect you two here on the hallway" she said

"Neither did we," Ruka smiled at her "so what were you doing? Crawling, I mean"

"Oh. Don't mind that" Mikan dismissed

"You okay?" Natsume finally spoke up with a hint of concern present on both his voice and eyes

"Yeah I'm fine" Mikan answered him appalled at the thought of him worried

"You don't look fine" Natsume pointed out "are you sure you're alright? You look pale"

"I'm fine, Natsume-kun!" Mikan smiled happily realizing that Natsume really do care for him

"Don't think that I care for you, polka-dots" Natsume interrupted her thoughts "I don't like being blamed if you ever get caught doing that"

"Why would you be blamed?"

"I'm your partner, remember?" Natsume pointed out

"Oh yeah" Mikan said. What a lame lie! You stopped being my partner when I was assigned to another partner! Natsume, you really do care for me! Mikan grins stupidly suddenly feeling so happy that she could finally fly around the world

"So what did the two of you do to make you two get stuck there?" Mikan asked after she calmed herself down

"Not a clue" Ruka said

The three of them continued their conversation until the bell rang and the teachers finally helped the two boys get out of the trap.

"Why were you even at the halls at that time?" Narumi asked the two

"We were heading for our class and we didn't notice the set trap" Ruka answered truthfully. Natsume didn't really like admitting that they were caught in it. He should have noticed that stupid trap.

"Okay... Well I'm glad you two didn't get hurt" Narumi smiled

Over the weeks, Ruka began to talk a lot even to Mr. Narumi. Maybe it's because of Hotaru's influence, Ruka thought.

As the two best of friends walked away Natsume realized what night they will be having tonight. Tonight is a full moon. He excused himself from Ruka saying he needs to find Mikan.

--

"Does everybody understand it?" Kai Lee asked the boys in black suits

"Yes sir!" they chorused

"Good… now go and set out the plan" he ordered and the guys in black suits quickly departed

-- TBC

did you like it??? review pls. tnx.

preview for the next chapter:

a confession. a ruckus in the Academy.


	10. Chapter 10

Another life Journey

Disclaimer – I do not own anything of Gakuen Alice property.

A/N: Sorry if I took to long to update, it's just that I lost my flash disk where I saved this chapter. I'm really sorry. And I began thinking if this story is worth to be continued. So please inform me in your reviews if you still want me to continue this story.

Chapter 10

"Natsume!" Mikan cried in her sleep hands outstretched trying to grab hold of something not there.

Mikan was sleeping in her room and she was having a bad dream. The room was dark and she was glowing because she was covered in cold sweat. Her hands were shaking. Some of her hair was sticking on her face, and her eyes were tightly shut.

The moment she screamed the name of a certain Fire wielder, her door was harshly opened and a hand instantly holds on Mikan's outstretched one.

"Mikan!" he said panicked

"No… don't let go" she mumbles "Natsume… stay with me…"

"I will…" Natsume promised

"… forever"

"Forever…" Natsume said squeezing Mikan's hand. Natsume stayed silent for a long time thinking if he should say it now. Say what's been bothering since he found out that Mikan will be his partner in missions. If he tells her now, at least some part of her knows how he feels. "I think I'm in lov—"

"Natsume?" Mikan stirred

"Yes?" Natsume asked cursing himself for almost confessing what he's feeling for the sleeping girl.

"Stay with me tonight" she requested

Natsume didn't answer. He knew Mikan was requesting it now that she's conscious making it hard for Natsume to agree on that request. He didn't know what he should do. Of course he knew he already granted that request just seconds ago but Mikan being conscious is a totally different matter. Yes, he's in love with her. He has settled that matter long ago. So why is he hesitating now?

Mikan opened her eyes to look at Natsume who has a look of pure concentration on his face.

The moment he saw Mikan opened her eyes and look at him. He said "I'll stay with you…"

What he saw in those eyes of Mikan almost made him cry and get mad at the same time. Mikan was so scared.

Mikan hugs him tightly and Natsume says whatever he was about to say earlier. He told her he loves you.

"Mikan… I think I'm feeling a new feeling towards you" he whispers on her ear.

Mikan took a deep breath and smiles at Natsume's neck. "Wait for me…"

Before either of the two move an inch or get to think of something they heard a scream. The two quickly untangled themselves from each other each cursing their luck and leapt out from the bed to look at the window.

What they saw made them panic. People in black suits were hurting teachers and students alike.

Some of the older students were fighting back using their alices. They saw a guy in black suit screaming his head off as he was chased with a strong illusion created by a student. Then a guy being lifted up in the air, a woman being surrounded by snakes, and another having a fist fight with herself her shadow being controlled by Tsubasa.

Then they saw a kid struck by thunder, a teacher frozen, and body lying on the ground.

Natsume made Mikan look at him and hug her, "listen… I can't control you but I want you to stay here in your room… but I know that you'll do anything to help the others… so I'm telling you now to be careful… I'll be by your side at all costs"

Mikan nods a feeling of safety coming over her.

Natsume hold her hand and pulls her outside the room into the hallway where students were running toward their room, some were heading out to help.

The minute they arrived outside the building, frozen daggers were thrown at them. Natsume quickly melted it and ran away. They caught site of Aya with Koko who was glaring at the guy in front of him and was attacking his comrades. Aya was making Koko's Alice to control people.

"Watch out!" someone shouted at their back.

Mikan and Natsume was hit by a strong gust of wind and got separated.

"Do not hurt the girl, dufus!" someone from above shouted and the guy who threw the gust wind was easily spotted and was hit by a thunder.

Mikan who got blown away from the tight hold of Natsume landed beside a tree where she saw Nonoko laying there with eyes closed and a bleeding arm. She gasped at how terrible she looks. She quickly searched for help and on the way she saw bombs were being placed. She ran faster, if the guys who were placing the bombs get near Nonoko they'll kill her. Finally she saw Tsubasa looking around.

"Tsubasa!" Mikan cried

"Mikan! There you are! I saw you thrown by that wind, are you alright?" He asked running to her side

"Yes yes I'm alright--Nonoko isn't! Help her!" Mikan pulled Tsubasa into where she saw Nonoko.

Tsubasa looks at her arm and said that she'll be alright but she needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. He carried her bridal style and he ran toward the building where he heard his friend playing music for those injured.

He expected Mikan to follow him but she didn't instead she told him, "I need to look for the others"

"No, Mikan! You're their target!" Tsubasa shouted but he wasn't heard by the running girl in pajamas.

Mikan ran helping anyone in need not caring if she gets hurt. One time she was hit by a frozen stick but didn't fight back instead she just glared at the guy and punched the hell out of him. She was only given that chance because the guy was staring at her curios at to what she'll do to him.

What she didn't know is that when she punched him his Alice was nullified.

Her Alice was seeping out of her body and every time an attack was directed at her it always deflates.

Finally she saw Hotaru in a floating submarine in the air aiming her baka gun at a guy who was advancing on a little kid who was running toward the building.

"Hotaru!" Mikan shouted at her best friend

Hotaru looks down to see Mikan who was waving at her like nothing was happening around them.

"Mikan! Are you alright?" she asked after she quickly lands on the ground

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yes. What are you still doing here? Go back to the building!" Hotaru told her best friend "if you still don't know, you're their target"

"What?" Mikan asked in disbelief her eyes wide as saucers "How did you know?"

"I heard some guy—"

Air was knocked out off Hotaru's body when she felt Mikan suddenly grab hold of her, hugged her tightly and switched places with her. Hotaru didn't know what was going on, she felt dizzy. What happened?

She opens her eyes when Mikan's hold loosens.

"Are you alright, Hotaru?" Mikan asked in painful gasps.

"What happened to you? What did you do?" Hotaru asked as Mikan's body was slowly leaning forward for her support.

She looks down at Mikan's body and saw a bunch of paper airplanes stuck on her back. She removes one and saw blood on the tip and when she touched it she got a paper cut. Hotaru looks in front of her to see a guy in black snapping his fingers trying to call out his Alice but none of his Alice was showing. Hotaru took out her latest invention and changed the bullets into flame balls by the handle and shot the guy three times.

When she was sure the guy was not being a problem anymore she quickly dragged Mikan's body inside her submarine and operated it to float high in the air.

"Mikan!" Hotaru shook her best friend "Mikan!"

"Hmm?" Mikan said

"Are you alright?" Hotaru asked "come on… hold it together, you'll be fine"

"Of course I'll be fine, Hotaru" Mikan smiled "I'm with you"

"Thank you, Mikan" Hotaru smiled at her best friend "for saving me… but you need to protect your self too, idiot!"

Mikan smiled and fell limp at Hotaru's lap. Hotaru quickly checked the pulse and it was still there. Barely. She felt something fall from her legs. She isn't sweating, so what's trickling down her legs?

She touched it and felt it was kind of sticky and cold. She retrieved her hand and saw it was blood. She checked her self for any injuries and realizes it was Mikan's blood. She lifts Mikan a little to see her injured back and gasps. It was bleeding profusely.

She quickly headed for the building and puts her inside a room and pulled a doctor from the hallway demanding that he heals Mikan's wounds first.

After watching the doctor struggle a little bit she asked why he's having trouble.

"Her Alice is seeping out from her body; her Alice is protecting her, making any Alice used, attacked to her nullified." The doctor explained "in this case, judging from her wounds if her Alice doesn't back down she'll bleed to death"

"What should you do then?" Hotaru asked the doctor who looks at her confused "well you're the doctor aren't you? Heal her!"

"If I do that her Alice might still reject my healing Alice into her body and if that happens her Alice might nullify her organs"

"What do you suggest I do then?" Hotaru asked panic seeping in her system

"Talk to her… then page me after you've got her Alice down" the doctor said and ran out of the room "the name is Maki Yoshi"

Hotaru nods and lifts Mikan's head and rested it on her lap. She leans forward making their foreheads touch each other.

She took a deep breath and started. She was showing a lot of emotions lately.

"Hey Mikan, its Hotaru… you're best friend…" she started and Mikan's body began to move a little "I need you to do something for me…" a twitch from Mikan's hand "I know you've been doing a lot of things for me lately but you got to do this for yourself too…" a soft murmur from Mikan "I need you to control your Alice… you see you're wounded seriously at the back…" a groan "you might bleed to death and you'll leave me here all alone… I need you to control it… or else the doctor can't help you…" another twitch from her hand "if he forces his Alice to your body… chances are you might nullify your own organs…"

"Ho...taru" Mikan whispered "I'm… try...ing"

"Come on Mikan… You can do it… I know you can" Hotaru encouraged "think of the times we had together… all the fun we have…"

Mikan's fists clenched and unclenched and they stayed quite for a long time making Hotaru worry. What if Mikan can't control her Alice? What will happen?

"I'm in control now, Hotaru"

Hotaru sighed in relief. "Good, now hold that control for me little longer will you?" Hotaru said and lifted Mikan's head off of her lap and paged the doctor.

Mikan nods. After a few minutes the doctor came in the room.

He let his hand hover above Mikan's body until a green light surrounds his hand and it slowly envelopes Mikan. The process was slow but Hotaru can clearly saw its effect.

"Have you seen Natsume?" someone shouted really loud from the hallway. It was obviously Sumire and she was panicking.

The three occupants in the room heard it and the two fully conscious occupants in the room gasped as Mikan's eyes shot open and sat straight up making the doctor's hand hover a little higher.

"Mikan!" Hotaru said "lie dow—"

"Natsume? Where is he?" Mikan asked the doctor slapping his hand away making the green light disappear "is he hurt? Where is he?"

Before the doctor could answer Mikan was reaching for the door and opening it.

"Mikan!" Hotaru ran after her friend "where are you going? Your back isn't healed yet!"

"I'm alright Hotaru! I need to find Natsume!" Mikan said running down the stairs but trips on her own foot and landed on the floor in a heap.

"Mikan!" Hotaru jumped the stairs and helped Mikan up. "Are you alright? Does anything hurt?"

"No… my ankle hurts… I think I sprained it" Mikan said looking at her ankle which was already turning into the color of black and blue

"Sit still and I'll call a doctor—"

"No!" Mikan cried standing up, the wall behind her as her support making spots of red visible. "I'll be alright… I need to find Natsume…"

Hotaru sighs, she knew now that she can't change her friend's stubborn mind. "Alright Mikan, I won't. But at least let me wrap a bandage on your ankle to prevent it from swelling too much and I'll help you find Natsume… alright?"

Mikan nods, "I'll just get a bandage from that room, now I want you to be here when I come back okay?"

"Okay"

Hotaru runs to the room and comes back with a bandage in hand a minute after. A few minutes passed and they were good to go… well as good as a bandaged ankle can go.

Mikan's left arm was around Hotaru's shoulder for support while Hotaru's right arm was around Mikan's waist. Their pace was quick and Mikan's eyes were darting from right to left searching for a certain fire user.

"Natsume?" Mikan cried out

"Mikan?" a voice cried from behind them "what happened to you?"

"I got hit by the paper airplanes" Mikan smiled

"And your ankle?" Natsume asked worried advancing on them

"Fell off the stair—"Mikan said but stopped when she saw Natsume's eye glare behind them

"Duck!" Natsume suddenly ordered them and threw a fireball at where their heads were split seconds ago.

"It burns! Put it out! Put it out!" the guy in black suit screamed

Then it was blocked by the sound of Natsume coughing real hard.

"Natsume!" Mikan cried sitting beside the kneeling Natsume with his hand on his mouth trying to cover his cough. "Are you alright?"

But Mikan knew he was far from alright, he used his Alice too much and he's suffering.

"Yeah…" Natsume answered after his fit of cough, he looks at his hand and saw blood. He tastes blood with his saliva as he swallows.

"How can you be alright when you're coughing out blood?" Mikan cried

Natsume lurches forward and he was coughing out blood. Both his palms were clutching the grass and while he stained the green color of grass with red. He suddenly felt something stabbing him at the back. It was painfully cold.

Mikan gasps and her tears started to flow. Natsume was just hit by a frozen arrow at the back when he was already coughing out blood! He didn't notice the flow of tears from Mikan's eyes as he was busy coughing out more blood.

"I don't want this… no… I want to stop this." Mikan mutters her body shaking, and then she remembered bombs being placed around the academy. Then she heard it. Screams that a bomb was going to be blown in 5 seconds. There were screams, there were cries, there were pleads… her friends were suffering because of her. She wouldn't allow that to happen. They were feeling pain.

"Mikan stop it… you're shaking" Hotaru said placing a hand on Mikan's shoulder but it quickly loosens and kneels beside her with a thud. Mikan looked at Hotaru and saw a frozen stick through her shoulder. Through her shoulder!

"Hotaru!" a voice screamed. Ruka kneeled beside Hotaru and told her to hold on; he'll carry her to the building and get healed. But he wasn't even able to finish his sentence as he too was struck with a frozen stick on the leg then to his arm.

Why are they doing this? Why are they hurting my friends! It's all because of me that they're suffering.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

A series of explosives was heard and it was continuous. Students and teachers were screaming and the guys in black suits were laughing.

"Join us Mikan" a voice entered her mind.

"No… never" she shouted her tears falling faster now.

More screams were heard, flames were quickly diminishing the trees from the forest. People would be suffocating if this doesn't stop.

"I don't want this…" Mikan began to mutter "no… I really don't like this… stop it… stop it now…"

"Join us Mikan and everything will be alright…"

"MAKE IT STOP!" Mikan cried at the top of her voice

An unseen force quickly wraps around the whole academy like a giant bubble and blocks the harms of the on going bomb. Mikan's body was shaking terribly and her hysterical cries weren't making her friends feel better. Everything around them that was hurting the residents of the school was thrown out of the bubble with the bombs.

Then slowly each bomb was deactivated and was shut off.

Mikan was glowing, her eyes wide open, her mouth opened wide since her last words, her expression clearly held confusion and shock.

Mikan was only able to think for a split second when she too, like the fallen bodies of her fellow school mates fall to the ground.

--End of chapter 10

Review pls. also include in your review if you still want me to continue this story.


	11. Chapter 11

Another life journey

Chapter 11

The bed across Natsume's was being occupied by a blonde girl sleeping. It looked like from her bandages she acquired a gash from shoulder to shoulder. It kept on bleeding so the nurse in charge of her changes her bandages every 15 minutes. But it didn't matter for him, all that mattered to him as of the moment is how Mikan is doing. He wasn't conscious of what happened after he felt Mikan's Alice pass through him. The last thing he saw was Mikan shouting staring up at the darkened sky above them. The next thing he knew is he's watching the nurse change the bandage of a sleeping girl.

And it wasn't a pretty sight to wake up to.

"You're finally awake" a voice said.

It was Ruka. He was seated on a wheel chair wearing a hospital gown and petting his bunny. He didn't seem to be hurt but fatigue was clearly seen on his face. It's like he's been waiting for Natsume to wake up for quite some time now.

"Aren't you supposed to have a cast on your arm and leg?" Natsume asked him.

"It has been taken care off the moment I stepped inside the building." Ruka explained "It was no minor issue but it wasn't also major. The doctors are confident I'll be fine on my own for a few days"

"Days?" Natsume asked "How long have I been out? How long has it been since the battle?"

"It was Friday then wasn't it?" Ruka wondered loudly "And today is… it's been a week since"

"A WEEK?" Natsume demanded loudly which he earned him a glare from all around the room. "And why am I staying in a ward?"

"Yes, a week. Because half of the hospital is destroyed."

"WHAT?" he again demanded loudly

"Mr. Hyuuga!" A stern nurse approached his bed "If you do not lower your voice I will be force to remove you of this ward"

"Like you can do that to a patient" Natsume murmured which thankfully the nurse didn't hear.

"I'll try to keep him quiet, miss" Ruka smiled at the nurse

"No animals allowed in this building!" The nurse shrieked in fear this time

Ruka glared at the nurse but nonetheless let the bunny hop off him and exit the building on its own. "I was not informed of that rule, miss. My apologies"

The nurse nodded and went away with two pair of furious eyes following her.

"I don't like her one bit" Ruka muttered

"Same here" Natsume said momentarily forgetting the problem at hand

"You must be wondering how Mikan is" Ruka said to Natsume after a while

"Damn right you are" Natsume mumbled "where is she?"

"She's in one of the private rooms" Ruka replied "Actually it's the only private room left"

"How is she doing?"

"She's getting better each day"

"When can I be free of bed rest?" Natsume asked—more like demanded--the nurse who checked his IV. She has her long red hair in a bun, her bangs almost covering her dark brown eyes, and she has the air of something Natsume couldn't point out surrounding her.

"Depends. How do you feel today?" the nurse asked kindly

"Great."

"No headaches?"

He shakes his head, that earned him a headache but he didn't let that show.

"No pains?"

"No…like I told you. I feel great" Natsume lied. He was feeling a tad like vomiting.

"You'll be free of bed rest the day after tomorrow at the latest" the nurse said and hurried off to assist the other patients in the room "Just call me when you need me"

"That's weird" Ruka frowned shaking his head "she shouldn't have let you think you'll be free of bed rest by that day"

Natsume raised an eye brow at him in question not trusting to open his mouth. He was really experiencing a real headache. And sitting up isn't helping him.

"You have just woken up. From what I read from your chart—I was curios! No judging! Stop glaring!—you're in bad need of bed rest. You almost… we almost… lost you… that night…" Ruka struggled to say.

Natsume can't take it anymore. He grabs Ruka's hand resting at his bed near his own hand. Ruka looks up at him worriedly and saw that Natsume has gone deathly pale and was sweating profusely. He saw Natusme close his eyes tightly and Ruka quickly grab the empty porcelain bowl resting on Natsume's bedside for cases like this. The blonde quickly placed it in front of Natsume and guided his friend's head toward it.

Then he threw up what was left inside his belly since the last time he ate, which was nothing. He didn't eat that day. And so it was his own blood he threw up and Ruka grew even more worried. He frantically called for the nurse when Natsume finished his episode. But Natsume grabbed his hand tightly even more.

"You need help, Natsume" Ruka said softly and rubbed Natsume's back "you threw up your own blood" he hissed

"I can handle it" Natsume whispered back tired and lay back down "I need to see Mikan soon. Don't tell anyone."

Ruka didn't know what to do. He looked at his best friend and saw that he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Ruka looked around and was glad that no one aside from the girl across Natsume witnessed his episode. No nurse came to check him.

Ruka sighed and grabbed the porcelain. He carefully placed it on his lap and tried to ignore the smell it was emitting. He carefully but quickly wheeled himself away from Natsume's bed and placed the bowl on the bedside of another patient.

Ruka smirked at his cleverness. If the doctors check to see if the blood is something of importance or needs to be checked too he could just check in with the patient. And he swears if it's something serious he will confess.

Ruka wheeled himself back to Natsume's bed and watched over him for a few minutes. He went around the bed trying to fix Natsume's bedding so that his best friend won't get tangled in it.

He grabbed Natsume's hand and whispered "Get well soon, Natsume"

"Don't tell me you're gay" Ruka heard Hotaru's voice comment.

Ruka was just about to deny it when he thought better of it. He smiled a little smug and turned around to face Hotaru not letting go of Natsume's hand. She was wearing her own hospital gown. "And if I were?"

Hotaru raised an eyebrow and said to him "then stop the crap about loving me."

"I was just joking, love" Ruka said seriously.

He let go of Natsume's hand and wheeled himself toward Hotaru and grabbed her hand. She was hovering over him but that didn't matter. He kissed her hand and smiled up at her.

"How is he?" Hotaru asked Ruka going behind him and pushing him closer to Natsume's bed. Ruka let her.

"He's fine." Ruka answered her. "He really wants to see Mikan, though."

"He woke up already then" Hotaru stated more than asked

"Yeah, he was quite loud when he did" Ruka smirked "It's a bit odd too, you know. It's rare to see him demand… shouting"

"And you say he's fine" she accused

"He said he was"

"But he threw up didn't he?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"I saw you placing the bowl on the other's bedside"

"Oh" he let the topic go "So how is Mikan?"

"She still hasn't got up"

"What does her chart say?"

"I, unlike you, don't go snooping around restricted papers, Nogi" Hotaru frowned slightly

"Of course you don't" he smiled "you have your own ways… like forcing the nurse or doctor to tell you the real situation"

"Yes, that I do" she admitted "The doctor said, she just needs rest. She's over fatigue; she doesn't sleep well, mind you. They say she keeps having nightmares. I wonder what about. But he says all is well. She'll wake up anytime soon this week"

"That's good news" he says and stares at the lovely girl in front of her "what about you? How are you?"

"I'm fine" she replied touching her right shoulder where the frozen stick went through. "The doctors said it might be awhile before I feel no pain anymore. But it's going to be alright"

Ruka smiled at her and wheeled himself out of the ward saying he'll be at the garden. "I need to get some fresh air."

"Okay" she said. And when she knew he was out of ear shot she said "take care"

On the other side of the hospital, someone was executing a certain plan.

A nurse with long red hair in a bun with bangs almost covering her dark brown eyes entered the private room.

The room was quiet except for the rhythmic breathing of the patient, Mikan, and the rhythmic beep of the machine connected to her heart. She was sleeping and off to another world, unaware of the danger she's in.

The nurse approached the bed and took out a syringe from her pocket. She tested the instrument a little and squirts it, releasing a small amount of the violet liquid. An IV was connected to her and she had the choice to let the liquid flow through the IV or make her own opening in Mikan's body. She chose the latter.

She takes a deep breath and quickly set about her mission. She doesn't have much time. She looks at Mikan with deep regret and injected the violet liquid into her body.

The effect was immediate. The second all of the liquid was in, the machine connected to her heart stopped beeping and instead released a flat line. No heartbeat.

The nurse disposed of the syringe and screamed at the top of her lungs. Doctors and nurses alike went barging in to the room.

"Why? What happened?" a doctor demanded

"I ca-came in he-here to d-do the r-rounds" she stammered "and fo-found out she's not bre-br-breathing any more!"

The doctor immediately goes to the machine checking exactly what time the heartbeat stopped. "Call a code blue, nurse"

The nurse quickly pressed the button needed to alarm but someone was already there. A doctor with the Alice of shock quickly stepped forward and did the job of the Defibrillator on his own. But no matter how high he charged the body of the teenage Mikan… he can't bring her back to life. No more heartbeat.

At the end of the hour, word spread that Mikan Sakura, the jolly beautiful kind girl, was dead.

-TBC

Yes, to be continued. I don't plan to end it this way. :) tell me if you want to end here though. I might consider the idea.

Anyway, i really am sorry for the long update. I read this story again and new plots formed. So... this might be a long read. I won't abandon this story. No worries :) thanks for all the reviews.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice - not mine.

Chapter 12:

Hotaru was roaming at the ruins of the used to be emergency ward of the hospital. She was thinking about Mikan. She was all Hotaru ever think about these past few days. How could she think of anything else, her best friend was in the hospital—comatized. She knew enough of what actually happened on that night. The raven haired sighed and raised her eyes to the clear blue skies. She closed her eyes, basking the warmth that just can't reach her heart.

_The two of them just got through the influx of students bringing in injured friends to get healed. Hotaru looked around. The whole court yard was littered with bodies-- moving and still. There was a dense fog from all the Alices used that was making the place eerie than it actually was. At her right she saw a pair of high school students fighting back to back three suited men. They were fairing well against the three. She could see few scenarios like that scattered, but mostly it was the suited men who was on offensive and the students on defensive. Sometimes she would see a body or two fall on the ground from her peripheral view but she ignored it. Mikan was urging her to walk faster._

_Hotaru looked at her haggard best friend and can't help but admire her. Her brown hair was a mess, her face smudged by dirt and her eyes frantic searching for Natsume. Hotaru knew that something have changed between Natsume and Mikan and she can't help but admit that it was for the better—on both parties, of course. Now, even though Mikan was only running on adrenaline she's still looking for Natsume. She knew that she should have tied Mikan down at the hospital to get herself healed but she understood all too well how Mikan felt, having to find someone dear against all odds._

"_Natsume?" Mikan cried out desperately her head moving from right to left trying in vain to look for a certain dark haired boy wielding fire._

_Hotrau did the same with just as much vigour if not more. She wanted Mikan out of the battlefield soon. She had an arm around Mikan's waist supporting her limping friend, and her other hand holding her modified baka gun._

_Hotaru sensed a presnce behind them but couldn't turn around to face whoever it was. She was attached to the hip with Mikan and she couldn't possibly move fast enough. She sighed in relief when she heard Natsume's voice._

"_Mikan? What happened to you?"_

_The two friends faced Natsume who was slowly approaching them, worry plastered on her face as he look over the brunette._

"_I got hit by the paper airplanes" Mikan said as an explanation with a smile, relieved to see Natsume still standing and conscious_

"_And your ankle?" the boy inquired glancing at the hastily bandaged said ankle_

_Hotaru saw Mikan hesitate for a split second on answering truthfully but honesty won over "fell off the stair—" _

"_Duck!" Natsume threw a fireball from his hand where it passed through the air the two heads where a moment ago._

_Hotaru vaguely heard the screaming of the attacker as Natsume fell down on all fours coughing out blood. Mikan was instantly beside the boy and inquiring after him. The three of them know the reason for this, Natsume used too much Alice. _

_And then, everything was too fast for Hotaru's mind to take it all in._

_Natsume got hit by a frozen arrow._

_Mikan started to tremble in tears._

_Hotaru tried to comfort her friend but got hit on the shoulder passing through flesh and bone. _

_And she was in a world of pain. _

_Ruka arrived shouting her name. _

_He was saying something about but got by a frozen stick that went through his left leg, then to his arm._

_BOOM!  
_

_BOOM!  
_

_BOOM!_

_Hotaru grabbed hold of Mikan's shaking body wanting to make Mikan know that she's there. _

_Hotaru did her best not to scream, it will only make Mikan cry harder. _

_Mikan started to rock back and forth and mumble._

_Hotaru held her tighter._

"_MAKE IT STOP!" Mikan screams at the top her voice her face looking upwards, her eyes seeing nothing but darkness. _

_Hotaru noticed that Mikan was giving off a soft light, the exact same light that enclosed the entire academy in a giant bubble. _

_And it was her limp form that Hotaru was left to hold on to until the medics got enough sense to look for survivors._

"Mikan, wake up you idiot" Hotaru whispered softly.

The only thing that Hotaru's mind could deduce of the happening was that, Mikan saved them all. Her nullification Alice enclosed the entire academy in a giant bubble that wards off anything that intended harm on the school itself or the people inside it. And it was too great for Mikan's petite body to handle.

She looked around her and saw Ruka's sitting form just a few feet away from her. He was smiling at her sadly.

"Hey" Ruka said as a greeting manoeuvring his wheel chair, he only got a nod in return. "Are you alright?"

"I think so, I'm—" it was then that they heard the scream.

A scream coming from Mikan's room. Lately, that has been happening a lot, Ruka thought. The two of them quickly headed for the room just in time to see two crestfallen doctors get out of the room trailed after a red head nurse.

"What happened?" Hotaru demanded running inside the room with Ruka at her heels.

"It's—" the nurse tried to stop them from coming in but the children were too fast for her.

"They deserve to know" the doctor said softly stopping the nurse from dragging the children out

Hotaru went inside the room with her heart beating loudly that she was so sure that Ruka can hear it. There was nothing wrong with the setting, no blood, no broken glasses, no nothing. She looked around. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She looked at the nurse and the doctors' faces, they were sad.

Why? Hotaru's mind couldn't comprehend. Why were they sad? Mikan isn't dead! She wanted to scream.

She looked at Ruka who had gone pale.

What is it? Why are they all so quiet? What is going on?

Then she heard it. There was only silence.

But—silence isn't supposed to happen in this room. Her mind reasoned. Mikan is connected in an IV, there should be dripping sounds. Her heart is being monitored; there should be a beeping sound. She looked around wildly. A vague thought passed through her mind that she didn't know her heart could beat so fast. She spotted Ruka who was staring at her in concern; at the doctors who were saying something to her but she couldn't hear it through the silence; the nurse looking at her sadly.

Silence.

No beeping.

Why is there no beeping!

Ruka held on to Hotaru's right forearm but she broke free. She immediately approached the machine and began shaking it.

Her mind wouldn't let her see the truth.

There must be something wrong with this machine! I should make a new one just for Mikan! The beeping should not stop! What is wrong with this?

Hotaru didn't feel her eyes begin to tear up as she continued to shake the machine, and occasionally pound her tiny ineffectual fists on it in frustration. She was an inventor! This could not be happening!

Why is there no response? Is it plugged? Why is it not powered? Why is it like this? It's not supposed to be like this! It should be beeping! Not...

She looked back at the other occupants of the room and only found Ruka and a doctor, she recalled as Maki Yoshi.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" her monotonic voice slight higher than usual demanded "I should plug this in to work, don't I? So that it will continue its incessant beeping... so that Mikan will live"

"I'm sorry, but Mikan left us..." was all Hotaru manage to hear before her knees gave out and she was left crying on the floor for her deceased best friend. She pressed her palms on her face as her control over her emotions for the past few days broke.

Mikan's dead...

Mikan's dead...

Dead...

Gone...

She cried harder and through it all she knew at the back of her head that a certain black haired boy will take the news harder than she's taking it. She felt Ruka's arm go around her, his head resting on her head and slowly wetting her hair with his tears for Mikan. The two of them rocked each other softly, taking comfort into each other's arm.

"Mikan," Hotaru whispered brokenly "you idiot"

Sometime during the break down of the friends, the doctor left them in peace.

* * *

_--Mikan's Place—_

_The brunette slowly sensed her surroundings and smiled. She was lying on her back on what she smelled as grass. She can feel the warmth of the sun beaming down on her. The gentle rustle of the tree's leaves with the wind, oddly enough, she didn't hear any chirping._

_Mikan opened her eyes to clear blue skies. She stayed like that for a while, just staring at the sky, admiring nature. She felt safe here. She sat up and looked around. She was at the top of a hill, looking over a expanse of greenery. _

_Peace._

It never entered her mind that she was the only living thing in that place.

* * *

Author's note: okay. i apologize for not updating for months (make it a year and i'm spot on, right?). so, here's my peace offering. this chapter and the my promise that this story will be completed. and of course you should know i'm a sucker for happy endings (i'm sure you can figure out what this means for the story *winks*).

and before i forget. to **happymochi **- i was beyond happy to have receive your mail. your message made me reread the entire story and actually do something about it. thanks.


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